Rachel Plotke, Muhlenberg
The Muhlenberg women's basketball team is ranked 17th in the D3hoops.com 2016-17 preseason poll.
The Mules, who play an exhibition game at Fordham next Friday and are scheduled to open their regular season at home on Tuesday, November 15, against Moravian, were ranked 19th in the final poll of the 2015-16 season. Muhlenberg returns all but one starter from a team that went 25-3 and won its record ninth Centennial Conference championship.
The Mules hosted not only the CC playoffs but also the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the second round with a win against St. John Fisher. Christopher Newport, which ended the Mules' season one game short of the "Sweet 16," is 15th in the preseason poll.
Muhlenberg returns two Division III statistical champions in juniors Brandi Vallely (assists per game) and Rachel Plotke (three-point percentage). As a team, the Mules ranked in the top 20 among 431 Division III teams in blocked shots per game (third), field-goal percentage defense (third), three-point field-goal percentage (fourth), assists per game (13th) and scoring margin (14th).
This is the seventh time in the last 15 years that the Mules have appeared in the D3hoops.com preseason poll. They received votes in 2006 and 2013 and were ranked 10th in 2009, 20th in 2002 and 2011 and 24th in 2008.
| # | School (1st votes) | Rec | Pts | Prev. |
| 1 | Tufts (9) | 28-4 | 597 | 2 |
| 2 | Amherst (3) | 30-2 | 580 | 3 |
| 3 | Texas-Tyler (3) | 30-2 | 567 | 6 |
| 4 | Thomas More (10) | 33-0 | 561 | 1 |
| 5 | Scranton | 30-1 | 536 | 4 |
| 6 | St. Thomas | 26-4 | 466 | 9 |
| 7 | Rochester | 23-6 | 398 | 11 |
| 8 | George Fox | 29-1 | 378 | 5 |
| 9 | Washington U. | 23-6 | 362 | 7 |
| 10 | Wartburg | 23-8 | 346 | 8 |
| 11 | Albright | 27-3 | 330 | 10 |
| 12 | UW-River Falls | 23-6 | 328 | 16 |
| 13 | Hope | 26-2 | 318 | 12 |
| 14 | UW-Oshkosh | 23-6 | 282 | 13 |
| 15 | Christopher Newport | 24-5 | 273 | 18 |
| 16 | Montclair State | 22-7 | 224 | 25 |
| 17 | Muhlenberg | 25-3 | 194 | 19 |
| 18 | Carnegie Mellon | 21-7 | 185 | 15 |
| 19 | Bowdoin | 22-7 | 184 | 21 |
| 20 | Mary Washington | 24-5 | 146 | 23 |
| 21 | Wheaton (Ill.) | 22-6 | 108 | 24 |
| 22 | UW-Stevens Point | 21-8 | 92 | 20 |
| 23 | Ohio Northern | 23-5 | 84 | 14 |
| 24 | Stevens | 23-7 | 73 | --- |
| 25 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 23-6 | 72 | --- |
Others receiving votes: Maryville (Tenn.) 70; Denison 69; Stockton 48; Illinois Wesleyan 46; Calvin 28; Trinity (Texas) 24; DePauw 24; Guilford 24; New York University 21; Marymount 18; University of New England 17; Lynchburg 12; St. Norbert 10; DeSales 7; St. Mary's (Minn.) 6; Whitman 6; Luther 3; UW-Whitewater 3; SUNY New Paltz 2; Puget Sound 1; Rose-Hulman 1; Rowan 1