FAIRFAX, Va. – With the spring golf season set to start on Monday, the Atlantic 10 Conference has released its A-10 Championship coaches poll.

The George Mason men's golf team has been picked to finish fifth at the A-10 Championship, which will be held April 28 in Orlando, Fla. The Patriots will join six other A-10 teams for Atlantic 10 Match Play this Monday and Tuesday in Weston Hills, Fla.

Mason was tabbed fifth with 78 points. Dayton was picked to finish first, followed by Richmond, three-time defending champ VCU and Rhode Island. The Patriots finished seventh at last year's championship.

Mason competed in five tournaments in the fall and twice finished in the top four of the team results. The Patriots posted their highest finish of the season when they placed third at the Patriot Intercollegiate in September.

Junior Eric Edwards leads the team with a 71.43 scoring average. He has posted two top-10 finishes this season, including his first collegiate victory when he shared co-medalist honors at the Elon Phoenix Invitational in October.

Freshman Davis Soderberg ranks second on the team with a 72.73 scoring averaged and twice tied for 12th in the fall – at the EKU Intercollegiate and the Patriot Intercollegiate. Junior Ellis Messian (73.00) and freshman Jeff Wilson (73/08) round out the top four. Junior Brock Kovach is just a tad over 73 strokes with a 73.40 scoring average and tied for eighth at the Old Dominion/OBX Collegiate in October.

A-10 Team Match Play begins Monday on the Players Course at Weston Hills Country Club in Weston, Fla. Seven of the 11 A-10 teams will participate, and each team will play six student-athletes.

Teams play six matches, earning one point for victory in each match and one-half of a point for a tie. The team with the most points will advance to the championship side of the match play. In the event of a tie the winning team will be decided by the most overall holes won collectively as a team. Teams were matched up based on the final Fall Golfstat rankings.