The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
MAC Match Play Challenge
Women's Golf Starts Spring Season with MAC Match Play Challenge
February 12 | Women's Golf
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AKRON, Ohio – The Akron Zips women's golf team opens the spring season in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. at the Mid-American Conference Match Play Challenge hosted by Bowling Green on Monday, Feb. 13. The tournament will be played at the Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club's Royal Lakes Golf Course, a par-72 that spans 6,068 yards.
"We look forward to this event each spring," Zips' head coach Jenny King. "Opening the spring season with Match Play is a fantastic way to start and should get our games heading into the right direction."
Akron earned the No. 3 seed and received a first round bye. The Zips are scheduled to tee-off from the No. 10 tee during the afternoon session, beginning at 12:35 p.m. ET on Monday.
UA will play the winner of the No. 6 Northern Illinois and No. 11 Dayton matchup. Also earning top-seeds were No. 1 Lamar, No. 2 Western Michigan, and No. 4 Eastern Michigan. The 12-team field also includes No. 5 Florida Gulf Coast, No. 7 Oakland, No. 8 Ohio, No. 9 Bowling Green (host), No. 10 Central Michigan, and No. 12 Fort Wayne.
"Our fall play earned us a first round bye, which is always a good thing, but the road to the championship will be a challenging one," King said. "We are excited about the opportunities to compete one-on-one with some very good teams this week."
Akron's starting five includes sophomore Danielle Nicholson (Geneva, Ohio), listed as Akron's No. 1, followed by Junior Pader Her (Holt, Mich.), sophomore Makayla Dull (Fremont, Ohio), senior Alejandra Velasco-Villanueva (Guadalajara, Mexico), and freshman Allyson Wentworth (Stewartsville, N.J.).
Fans can follow match play action with GolfStat Live Scoring.
The Zips ended the fall season with back-to-back tournament wins (Silver Lake Shoot Out and Roseann Schwartz Invitational) and finished in the Top 5 in 4-of-5 events (3-of-12, Drake Creek Invitational and 3-of-12 Mary Fossum Invitational) – Akron finished 12-of-16 at the Johnie Imes Invitational.
Akron currently owns a 302.46 team tournament average led by Nicholson's team-low 73.23 strokes. Nicholson led Akron's scoring efforts in 4-of-5 tournaments, including four Top 5 performances and a 14th place finish. She won the Roseann Schwartz with a 2-under, 70-72 – 142 two-round total while earning a second and two fourth place finishes.
Dull follows with a second-best 76.54 average while Her follows closely with a 76.69. Dull posted four Top 20 finishes including a win and a third place finish. Meanwhile, Her grabbed second and 10th place finishes.
Velasco-Villanueva and Wentworth completed the fall with 78.54 and 79.07 averages, respectively. Velasco-Villanueva registered two Top 15 finishes, and Wentworth fired three Top 25 tournament totals.
Players Mentioned
