KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The University of Pikeville women's golf team is coming off its first trip to the national tournament last spring. It appears the coaches around the country expect the Bears to make a return visit.
 
The NAIA preseason ratings were released on Friday afternoon with Coach Nelson Scott's team picked 15^th in the country.
 
Defending national champion SCAD (Ga.) is the preseason favorite to repeat as champion, getting 11 of the 17 first-place votes. It is followed by Keiser (Fla.), Dalton State (Ga.), British Columbia and Marian (Ind.) in the Top 5.
 
Truett McConnell (Ga.) is the top AAC team in the poll, coming in 12^th in the nation. Truett and UPike were the preseason co-favorites to win the conference championship according to a poll released earlier in the week by the league.
 
Milligan (Tenn.) follows the two programs who go by Bears. The Buffs are ranked 17^th in the nation.
 
The Bears finished 12^th in the NAIA women's golf national championship a year ago.
 
UPike returns three of its six players who traveled to Ypsilanti, Mich., for the national tournament in May. They're led by All-American Tayla Howroyd.
 
The senior from Edenvale, South Africa, had five Top 10 finishes in seven regular-season tournaments last season while tying for the championship of the Gibson Bay Invitational.
 
For the season, Howroyd averaged 77.23 per round and was named conference player of the week two times.
 
Her sister, Keira Howroyd, is back for her sophomore season after being named the AAC Newcomer of the Year. She won the honor after posting five rounds of play in the two league tournaments with a total score of 414, averaging 82.8.
 
Sophomore Tiffanie Tran also represented the team at last year's tournament. She is a product of Bradenton, Fla.
 
The Bears will begin the 2026-27 season on Sept. 7-8 when they travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to play in the Wildcat Fall Invitational, hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University. The Wildcats are ranked sixth in the preseason Top 25.