The Ohio Wesleyan field hockey team was established as the favorite to defend its North Coast Athletic Conference championship in balloting by the NCAC field hockey coaches in their 2025 preseason poll.

The defending co-champion Battling Bishops garnered 5 of the 10 first-place votes and compiled 94 points in the poll, edging fellow 2024 co-champion Denison, which received 4 first-place votes and finished with 93 points.  DePauw received the final first-place vote and finished third with 79 points.  Kenyon finished fourth with 69 points, followed by Wittenberg (62), Allegheny (48), Wooster (33), Washington & Jefferson (32), Transylvania (22), and Oberlin (18).

Ohio Wesleyan finished the 2024 season with a 17-5 overall record and a 9-1 mark in league play to claim the program's 11th conference title.  Head coach Brenda Semit and assistant coach Jon O'Haire return 3 All-NCAC selections from last season, including junior Grace Ammon (Southborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional), the 2024 NCAC Midfielder of the Year.  During Ammon's sophomore campaign, she tied for a league-best 6 assists and ranked third in shots with 45 against league opponents.  Overall, the midfielder tallied an NCAC-best 9 assists to go along with 5 goals for 19 points last season.  Senior defensive midfielder Alyssa Markell (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County) joined Ammon on the All-NCAC first team for the second straight season after anchoring a defense that allowed only 5 goals in conference action and recorded 13 shutouts overall.  Junior forward Mattison Hyland (Saylorsburg, Pa./Pleasant Valley), a third-team all-conference honoree a season ago, returns after posting 3 goals and 3 assists for 9 points against conference opponents.

Ohio Wesleyan opens its season on Saturday, Aug. 30, at Rochester in Rochester, N.Y.  The Battling Bishops open their home schedule at noon on Sunday, Sept. 7, against Centre at Selby Stadium.