Nov. 3, 2008
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Vanderbilt women’s golf team advanced to the finals of the NGCA Collegiate Match Play Championship consolation bracket after garnering two wins over Georgia and Texas A&M on Monday. The Commodores will take on the winner of the Kent State on Tuesday after the Golden Flashes knocked off Arizona in the other consolation semifinals.
The Commodores, ranked number six in the latest Golfweek rankings, rebounded from a sluggish first day of stroke play Sunday with two quality wins on Monday. Both the Bulldogs, ranked number four in the latest rankings, and Texas A&M, ranked 29th, were among the 15 teams ranked in the top 30 competing in the festivities at the Ginn Celebration Resort in Kissimmee, Fla.
Vanderbilt won the first match of the day against Georgia in convincing fashion, 4-1. Freshman Andrea Messer knocked off Mallory Hetzel, 10 and 8, and fellow Commodores Megan Grehan, Marina Alex, and Brooke Goodwin also took care of their matches against the Bulldogs with a resounding set of scores. Grehan knocked off Carolina Andrade, 3 and 2, Alex defeated Tess Fordham, 5 and 4, and Goodwin defeated Leigh Crosby, 3 and 2. Georgia’s Marta Silva notched the Bulldogs’ only individual win of the match with a 4 and 3 victory over Jacqui Concolino.
But, Concolino rebounded with a dramatic afternoon session and a come-from-behind tie that gave the Commodores a 2-1-2 win over Texas A&M, 2-1-2. In the deciding match, Concolino fought back from two down with four holes to play against Jodi Neal to give the Commodores the win. On her 16th hole, Concolino cut Neal’s lead to one, and then on her final hole, the senior from Orlando, Fla., won the final hole to make the match all square. Marina Alex claimed her victory early over the Aggies’ Ashley Freeman, 6 and 4, and Brooke Goodwin led wire-to-wire to win her match, 2 and 1, over Crystal Reeves. Texas A&M’s Sarah Zwartynski defeated Andrea Messer, 5 and 4, to give the Aggies their lone win of the match, and Megan Grehan halved her match with Lauren Johnson to make the tally, 2-1-1 in favor of Vanderbilt.
“The girls played well in the first round, and we trailed early in the second round,” said head coach Greg Allen. “But we turned it around and won some close matches. A couple of the individual matches could have gone either way.
“We knew that entering the consolation round, the best we could do was ninth, but that would mean that we would be 3-0 in match play. With a win Tuesday, it would mean that we accomplished the most we could in match play, which is a great way to end the fall season.”
Vanderbilt will take on Kent State Tuesday, who defeated Arizona in the other consolation semifinal.
