Preseason polls usually are intended to pique fan interest, but they may serve to fan the flames of motivation for Dominican University of California's 2010 fall athletic teams.

Women's Soccer
Though they knocked off the league champion, Dixie State College,on its home field in Utah in their final game of the 2009 season and lost only one senior off that squad that won three of its last four games, the Lady Penguins were picked to finish sixth by league coaches this season in the 2010 Pacific West Conference preseason poll. Dominican opens its regular-season schedule on September 2 at UC San Diego, plays its first home game on September 10 versus St. Martin's, and begins PacWest play on September 15 at home against Grand Canyon University, which was picked third in the coaches' preseason poll.

The Lady Penguins' biggest test will come on Wednesday, September 22, when Dixie State, tabbed to repeat as PacWest champion, comes to Dominican for a 4:00 p.m match. Dominican was the only PacWest team to beat Dixie State in 14 league games last season.

Dominican is led by defender Katie Brown, forward Bridget Folan, and midfielder Shayna Elkins, all PacWest Preseason Team selections.

Men's Soccer
Senior defender Alec Ziegler was named to the All-PacWest Preseason Team and Dominican returns top scorer, junior Pedro Guevara from last year, yet the Penguins were picked to finish no better than seventh in the nine-team league by league coaches. The Dominican men, who lost an exhibition match 6-0 at UC Davis in August,  will have a chance to prove they are better than that in the first week of September when they play non-league games at UC San Diego (September 2), at Cal Poly Pomona  (September 4), and at Sonoma State (September 7) before making their home season debut on September 10 against St. Martin's.

The Penguins open PacWest play at home on September 15 at 2 p.m. against conference preseason favorite and defending PacWest champion Grand Canyon University.

Women's Volleyball
New head coach Gayle Stammer loves being the underdog and her team is just that for the 2010 PacWest Conference season. According to their preseason poll, league coaches predicted that Dominican would finish last this season so Stammer's team will use that as inspiration. The Lady Penguins, led by senior Brooke Swingle, begin non-league play on September 3 and 4 at the Sonoma State tournament in Rohnert Park. Dominican's first home match will be September 6 against the University of Alaska Anchorage at 7:00 p.m. PacWest play for Dominican will start on September 24 when the Penguins host Dixie State on consecutive days inside Conlan Center. League coaches have identified Dixie State as the team to beat in the PacWest this season.

Men's and Women's Cross Country
The Penguins have resurrected their cross country program and it will make its NCAA Division II debut on September 11 at the Hornet Jamboree Invitational at Sacramento State. Coach Larry Schwartz will be counting on freshmen Kevin So and Alex Lopez-Ramirez to pace the Dominican men's team effort and Nora Nicholl-Lewandowski and Lauren Morris to score high the Penguin women.