ITTA BENA -- After taking home the SWAC Tournament championship last season, all eyes are on the Mississippi Valley State women's soccer team. The Devilettes blanked Jackson State 2-0 last season in the title game before falling to Florida State in the NCAA Tournament.

Now, Valley returns with the hopes of repeating that success. And they have a good chance of doing so with the return of two of its leading scorers, Nykosi Simmons, who was named Second Team All-SWAC, and Shanesse Spratt, who was named First Team All-SWAC.

The Devilettes also return defensive specialist Bianca Viglinate, who was named SWAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year by College Sports Madness.

MVSU will kick off this season on the road Friday at Central Arkansas before hosting Southern Miss on Sunday, Aug. 25 at 1 p.m.

The team has been working hard during preseason camp in preparation for the season, said head coach Sonia Curvelo.

"The team has been performing at a higher level in training," she said. "I think that we are improving each day, which is very important. The players' mentalities are excellent. They are very competitive and always want to improve and maintain a great level in training. This is what is needed to do great things this season."

With six seniors on this season's roster, MVSU's five newcomers have a good crop of experienced players to look up to.

"The upperclassmen have shown great leadership and are also helping the younger players in advancing their roles and positions on the field," said Curvelo. "As a coach, this is great to see because it shows our team unity. (Tuesday), the team will return to training and start off the first session in the weight room and second session will be on the field for technical and tactical training."