EVANSVILLE, Ind. – An important milestone in University of Evansville women's golf history will take place on Monday when the Purple Aces take to The Ohio State University Golf Club – Scarlet Course to open up the first-ever NCAA Regional in program history.
Live Stats
The 2021 Missouri Valley Conference Champions were selected to the Columbus Regional last week during the NCAA Selection Show, which was carried on live The Golf Channel. The Purple Aces are one of 18 teams set to take part in the regional, which features Duke, Arizona State and Virginia as the top three seeds. The top six teams and three individuals from each of the four regional sites will advance to the national championship in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Golfstat will have live results during the regionals while the team is set to take over the UE Athletics Instagram account to document their experience in Columbus. GoPurpleAces.com as well as the UE Athletics Facebook and Twitter accounts will have additional coverage throughout the event. Evansville tee off shortly after 10 a.m. ET on Monday and one round will be played each day running Monday through Wednesday. Caitlin O'Donnell will be the first to tee off at 10:01 ET.
"I look forward to Caitlin teeing off at 10:01 on Monday," Aces head coach John Andrews said. "Her shot will be the first for our program in an NCAA Regional."
Evansville advanced to the NCAA Regionals with an historic victory in the MVC Championship nearly three weeks ago in St. Charles, Missouri. After leading the field by ten strokes after the first two rounds, the Purple Aces battled the snow along with the University of Northern Iowa in the final round of play. Following three rounds, the teams were tied and headed to a sudden death playoff.
With the snow falling as hard as it had all day when the teams went to the 18
th hole for the playoff, UE put forth its best effort to clinch the championship. A full team effort earned a dominant win in the playoff. Sophia Rohleder picked up the Aces second individual championship. Her 3-round tally of 229 bested her nearest competition by two strokes. Four UE players finished in the top 21 with all five coming home in the top 32 in the standings.
Allison Enchelmayer was second on the UE squad and tied for 12
th in the event with a 237. Her low round was a 76 in the opening 18. Alyssa McMinn tied for 17
th following a strong first day with scores of 76 and 75. Next up was Caitlin O'Donnell. Her low round of the season got the Aces rolling on the first day. O'Donnell carded a 73 to begin the tournament and set the tone for the entire team. Mallory Russell finished in 32
nd on the individual leaderboard, but made what may have been her top contribution on the playoff hole. UE head coach John Andrews had Russell take the first shot of the playoff hole, which turned out to be a near perfect attempt that eventually led to the championship.
Columbus Regional Seedings
1. Duke (Atlantic Coast Conference)
2. Arizona State
3. Virginia
4. Kent State (Mid-American Conference)
5. Georgia
6. Vanderbilt
7. Michigan
8. Clemson
9. Oklahoma
10. Kentucky
11. Illinois
12. New Mexico (Mountain West Conference)
13. Nebraska
14. Washington
15. Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt Conference)
16. Campbell (Big South Conference)
17. Evansville (Missouri Valley Conference)
18. Youngstown State (Horizon League)
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