The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
MAC Match Play Challenge
MAC Match Play Challenge Recap: Zips Earn Runner-Up
February 15 | Women's Golf
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Lakewood Ranch, Fla. – The Akron women's golf team finished runner-up at the Mid-American Conference Match Play Challenge at the par-72 6,068-yard Royal Lakes Golf Course at Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club. The Zips defeated Northern Illinois (4-1) and Oakland (3-2) to advance to the tournament finale, but fell 5-0 against Lamar on Tuesday.
Akron's Allyson Wentworth (Stewartsville, N.J.) and Lamar's Kura Poko were the first group to hit the course. Wentworth fell behind early, dropping the initial four holes before a posting a win on hole No. 7 to cut the deficit to 3down. Poko bounced back with two more wins to finish the front-9 with a five-hole advantage and finished the match 6&5.
Wentworth posted a pair of wins prior to the championship match, winning 3&2 against NIU's Lexi Salberg and defeating Oakland's Maddie Zack 2&1. Wentworth finished the tournament 2-1 overall.
Meanwhile the second group off the tee, Akron's Alejandra Velasco-Villanueva (Guadalajara, Mexico) and Lamar's Felecia Sauceda, needed all 18 holes to decide the winner. Velasco-Villanueva established the first lead, winning the second hole before Sauceda squared the match on the thid hole. Velasco-Villanueva posted a second win on hole No. 5, but again Sauceda narrowed the gap two holes later. On hole No. 8 Sauceda took her first lead, but Velasco-Villanueva tied the match on No. 9 and the back-and-forth battle continued. After four more lead changes, Velasco-Villanueva and Sauceda were deadlocked with four holes remaining. The two golfers played even on 15-17 for the match to be decided on the final hole. The match ended as Sauceda fired a four and Velasco-Villanueva carded a five.
For the Tournament, Velasco-Villanueva was 1-2 with a dominate 6&5 win over Oakland's Zaafina Naqvi.
Next up were, Makayla Dull (Fremont, Ohio) and Olivia Le Roux (Lamar). Le Roux held the lead throughout, winning the first hole and building to a 5&4 finish. Dull battled to keep the Le Roux lead to just one on the fron-9, but fell to 3down on Le Roux's back-to-back wins on holes 10-11. Le Roux added two wins before the match ended.
Dull finished the MAC event 1-2, using a 3&2 win to defeat NIU's Kelly Anderson.
Pader Her (Holt, Mich.) was Akron's No. 2 golfer and faced Lamar's equivalent in Wenny Chang. Chang won the first hole and posted a second win on hole No. 4 before Her cut the deficit to one stroke on the seventh hole. The two golfers played even from there, but Chang extended the lead to 2UP on No. 17 to end the match.
Her (2-1) posted two wins during the 54-hole event, defeating NIU's Lena Gautier and followed with a 2UP win over Oakland's Fiona Schmidt.
The final matchup of the day was Akron's No. 1 Danielle Nicholson (Geneva, Ohio) against Lamar's favorite Elodie Chaplet. The round started even for the two top-rated golfers, however, Chaplet was able to claim holes three and four for a 2UP advantage. Nicholson fired back, securing the fifth hole and played even through the rest of the front-9. Chaplet started the back-9 with a win for a two-hole advantage, and extended the lead to four after 15 holes.
Nicholson (1-2) opened the MAC Match Play Challenge with a dominant 6&5 win over NUI's Brielle Ward, but fell 2down against Oakland's Morgan Smith.
The Zips will be back in action at the Rio Verde Collegiate on Feb. 24-26 in Rio Verde, Ariz. at White Wing Golf Course.
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Players Mentioned
