The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
MAC Match Play Challenge – Match Three
Women's Golf Falls in Semifinal to Eastern Michigan
February 09 | Women's Golf
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Live Results: Quarter Final Results at www.Golfstat.com
Bracket: Updated Tournament Bracket (PDF)
Lakewood Ranch, Fla. – The Akron Zips women's golf team squared-off with Eastern Michigan on Tuesday morning in the semifinal round Mid-American Conference Match Play Challenge hosted by Bowling Green. The Zips dropped the head-to-head battle 3 to 2, and will play Northern Illinois for third place in the nightcap.
Three of the matches came down to the final hole as Danielle Nicholson (Geneva, Ohio) and Alejandra Velasco-Villanueva (Guadalajara, Mexico) held one for victories. Meanwhile, EMU's Karyn Lee Ping made birdie on 18 to slightly edge UA's Pader Her (Holt, Mich.) 1-up, which lifted the Eagles to the match win. Akron's Frida Fougberg (Partille, Sweden) and Makayla Dull (Fremont, Ohio) fell by scores of 4&3 and 5&3, respectively.
Nicholson started the day strong, winning the first three holes and establishing a 3-up advantage. The freshman held the lead until EMU's Kelsey Murphy fired a pair of birdies and a par to even the match with two holes left to play. Nicholson kept her composure and finished the round with back-to-back birdies for a 2-up win.
Velasco-Villanueva and her opponent, Kritsuda Apiwatthanadol, played even through the first four holes. Velasco-Villanueva used holes 5 and 6 to take a 2-up lead. She extended the lead to 3-up after 11 holes, but dropped holes 15, 16 and 17 to head into the final hole all-square. Velasco-Villanueva birdied 18 for a 1-up win.
Like Nicholson, Her opened with a one stroke lead after the first hole. She led by as many as three holes until the Eagles' Karyn Lee Ping cut the deficit to 2-up with a birdie. Three holes later, Ping cut the lead to 1-up and tied the match after 13 holes. Ping won 14 and 15, but Her responded with wins on 16 and 17 to deadlock the match for the final hole. Her made par on 18, and Ping birdied for the 1-up win.
EMU's Thelma Beck defeated Fougberg 4&3 after 15 holes. Fougberg was even after the initial hole, however Beck held a two-stroke advantage entering the fourth tee box. Fougberg birdied the fourth hole, but Beck recovered on No. 9 for a 2-up advantage, heading into the back nine. She extended the lead to 4-up, but Fougberg cut into the deficit with a birdied on 14. Beck posted a win on 15, which ended the match 4-up.
Eastern Michigan's Lauren Stephens defeated Dull 5&3 in the semifinal round. Stephens and Dull played even through the first six holes, however Stephens used the next three holes to build a 3-stroke advantage after the front-9. On the back, Dull played even through four, but Stephens added to the lead, winning holes 14 and 15 while ending the match.
Players Mentioned
