PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The Pace University softball squad, led by head coach Claudia Stabile in her 37^th season at the helm, will begin the quest for a fifth-consecutive Northeast-10 Conference Championships tournament berth on Mar. 11 against the Academy of Art.

*NCAA Hunger: After missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014 last season, the Setters head into 2018 with a goal to return to the familiar stage of the postseason tournament. A senior class of five looks to close out their collegiate careers by leading the Setters to the third NCAA berth in four seasons.

*Senior Sluggers: On the topic of senior leadership, the Setters return a tremendous amount of veteran leaders from last season's campaign. Ashley Lew (New City, NY/Clarkstown High School North), Larissa Labs (Carlsbad, CA/San Marcos High School), and Jordan Chillinsky (Carlsbad, CA/Carlsbad High School) will be back on the diamond for the Blue and Gold looking to pick up where they left off in their junior seasons. Labs finished third on the team last season with a .289 batting average, while Chillinsky was right behind her with a .288 mark in 2017. Lew batted .283 and led the Setters in runs scored (25) and triples (six). Tara Bernstein (Glen Oaks, NY/Bayside High School), who has provided great consistency with 83 career starts in the outfield, and Jaclyn Flores (Escondido, CA/San Pasqual High School) round out Pace's strong Class of 2018.

*Versatile Pitching: Speaking of Flores, she returns to the mound for her senior campaign following a 5-9, 3.66 ERA season. Flores has already placed herself in the Pace record books following a strong first three years in a Setter uniform, and comes off career highs in innings (105.1) and strikeouts (52). Sophomore Emma Bernet (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W Baker) comes off an NE10 All-Rookie Team selection last season, sporting a team-low 2.70 ERA while pitching to a 5-6 record. Freshman newcomer MacKenzie Garrick (South River, NJ/South River) rounds out the Pace rotation.

*A Four-ce to be Reckoned With: The Setters enter the season slotted fourth in the Southwest Division in the NE10 Preseason Coaches Poll. Despite finishing last season with an 18-23 record overall, Pace played strong ball against the NE10, finishing 11-7 against the Southwest Division. Their divisional record was second to only Adelphi in the Southwest.

*California Dreamin': The Blue and Gold begin the season with four-straight doubleheaders in California. Pace will play the Academy of Art (Mar. 11), Holy Names University (Mar. 13), Sonoma State University (Mar. 14), and Notre Dame de Namur University (Mar. 15) before returning to the east coast for their home opener. The Golden State matchups promise an early series of intriguing contests against unfamiliar opponents. The March 14 game against Sonoma State will be the Setters' first meeting of the year against a 2017 NCAA tournament team, as the Seawolves come off a 38-20 campaign a year ago.

*A Stacked Schedule: Of Pace's 48 games this season, 22 will be against teams that were ranked in the final 2017 NCAA Regional Rankings, including 17 against 2017 NCAA Tournament teams. Eight of those contests will be conference bouts against Adelphi, Merrimack, and New Haven. The Setters will play seven of the eight teams that played in last season's NCAA East Regional brackets, with meetings against Mercy, Molloy, Caldwell, and NYIT also awaiting on the schedule.

For all information regarding Pace University softball, log on to www.PaceUAthletics.com and follow Pace Softball on Twitter (@Pace_Softball), and Instagram (@pace_softball).