SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Armstrong Atlantic State University women's soccer squad tops the first NCAA Southeast Region rankings, released by the NCAA region committee on Wednesday. These rankings are used to select the participants for the 2011 NCAA DII Women's Soccer Championships.

The Pirates (10-2-1) are one of five Peach Belt Conference teams that appear in the first region poll, as fellow PBC school North Georgia (11-1) is No. 2. Defending region champion Lenoir-Rhyne (12-1) is third, followed by Columbus State (10-3-2), Lander (11-2-1) and Wingate (10-2).

UNC Pembroke (7-4-2) is seventh, followed by Tusculum (8-5), Lees-McRae (10-2-1) and Mount Olive (8-3-1).

Click here to view the complete NCAA DII region rankings.

Three automatic bids are awarded to the conference tournament champions of the Peach Belt, the South Atlantic Conference and Conference Carolinas. The next three highest ranked teams earn at-large berths into the championships.

Armstrong advanced to its first NCAA Southeast Region final a year ago and is looking for its fifth trip to the NCAA postseason in the seven year history of women's soccer.

The Pirates are in action on Wednesday evening, playing at Georgia College in a 7:00 p.m. Peach Belt matchup with the Bobcats.