April 1, 2011

First Round Results

OXFORD, Miss. - The No. 11-ranked Tennessee Lady Vol golf team jumped out to an eight-stroke lead on Day 1 of the Rebel Intercollegiate on Friday at the Ole Miss Golf Course.

With three players shooting at par of below, the Big Orange tallied a 2-over-par 290 first round score to take a sizable lead over three teams tied for second-place at 298 - tournament-host Mississippi, Maryland and Coastal Carolina -into Saturday's second round of competition.

"It was a solid day for us," Lady Vol head coach Judi Pavon said. "Everyone played pretty well. I am very pleased with Erica (Popson) for following up her win with a good round. Sara (Monberg) and Nathalie (Mansson) both played great today. Kaitlyn (Rohrback) and Chessey (Thomas) also played solid and were just a couple of putts away from great rounds."

Popson, a sophomore with two tournament victories to her name already this season, recorded her eighth par-or-better round of 2010-11 with a 1-under 71 on the par-72, 6,351-yard course to place her in a tie for second.

Mansson, a junior All-American, and Monberg, a sophomore, both fired even-par 72s to tie for seventh heading into the second day. It's the fifth par-or-better score of the season for each.

Rohrback and Thomas, UT's freshmen, are tied for 23rd and 31st, respectively, with scores of 75 and 76.

Popson recorded a double bogey on Hole No.1, but rebounded to fire back-to-back birdies on Holes No. 2 and No. 3. She tallied five birdies on Friday and is just three shots behind clubhouse leader Virginia Espejo of Southern Mississippi.

Mansson played two-under golf on the back nine, while Monberg birdied No. 18 to get to even par.

Tee times are scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. CT on Saturday. Golfstat.com will provide live results, while twitter.com/LadyVol_Golf will have updates throughout the day.