NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Junior Ava Merrill has been named second-team All-SEC by a vote of the conference’s head coaches, the league office announced Friday.
Merrill’s second team selection marks the third-straight year on the All-SEC squads for the Johns Creek, Georgia, native. Merrill has led the Commodores with a 71.3 stroke average over 27 rounds this season. She also paces the team with two top five finishes, a trio of top 10s and six top 20 marks. She has posted a team-best 16 rounds at or under par this season.
The junior has finished under par at six of the Commodores’ nine events this season. She posted back-to-back runner-up finishes in the fall at the Mason Rudolph Championship and Ron Moore Intercollegiate. Merrill finished strong heading into NCAA play with a seventh-place finish in the Clemson Invitational to close the regular season and a 12th-place performance at the SEC Championship.
Merrill also represented Vanderbilt in the prestigious Augusta National Women’s Amateur. She made the cut to advance to the final round at Augusta National and finished 3-under-par for a 17th-place mark among the top amateurs in the world.
Merrill is the first Commodore to earn an All-SEC honor in three-straight years since Jennifer Hahn went 4-for-4 from 2013-16.
Merrill and the Commodores head to Stanford May 11-13 for the NCAA Regionals, aiming for a return trip to the National Championship in Carlsbad, California, to end the month. Last season, Merrill finished 14th as an individual, earning All-America honors.
