April 8, 2012

FINAL RESULTS

BROWN SUMMITT, N.C. - Tennessee captured its second victory of the 2012 spring season by grabbing first place at the Bryan National Collegiate this weekend at the Player's Course at Bryan Park.

Atop the leader board by two shots heading into the final round, Tennessee fired a 10-over 298 on Sunday to capture the team championship in a playoff. The Lady Vols finished with a 293-291-298=882 (+18) total going into the playoff on hole 18. The Big Orange made four pars on the 18th hole to top Duke and win the tournament.

"It was an exciting day," head coach Judi Pavon said. "We played with Florida State and UNC and did a good job beating them. Duke was one pairing ahead and had a really good round."

Duke recorded the best round of the day with a 1-over 289 finish.

"The playoff was exciting with AJ [Newell] and Kaitlyn [Rohrback] going out first and both making pars, while Duke had a par and two double bogeys. Sara [Monberg] and Erica [Popson] made two pars as well to seal the victory."

"It was a very good win for us beating Duke and UNC, both top 10 teams, and winning against a field that included seven top-25 teams," Pavon added.

In addition to tying with 10th-ranked Duke, the 14th-ranked Lady Vols defeated 12 top-50 teams, including six top-25 squads, in the 17-team field. No. 22 Florida State (+25) placed third while No. 19 Ohio State (+28) and No. 6 North Carolina (+28) finished in a tie for fourth place.

Rohrback anchored the UT scoring effort in the tournament's final round, carding a 1-over 73 Sunday, punctuated by two birdies as well as an eagle on hole No. 12. She finished the weekend tied for 16th with a 75-75-73=223 tally.

"I got over par pretty early," Rohrback said, "But an eagle on 12 helped get my round back on track and I played steady from there on out."

Tennessee turned in three rounds of 75 from Popson, Mansson and Newell to round out Sunday's team score.

Popson, who entered the day tied for first, carded her first round over par on the weekend to finish tied for third on a 71-70-75=216 scorecard.

Mansson compiled a 74-72-75=221 tally en route to a tie for ninth place, while Newell put up a 80-76-75=231 (T50) performance during the weekend.

Finishing out the lineup for the Lady Vols was Monberg who carded a nine-over 81 in Sunday's final round before finishing in a tie for 40th place.

Tennessee sat in third after Friday's first-round 293 (+5) score, and found itself in sole possession of first place after the second round (291, +3), before sharing the lead with the Blue Devils during the final 18. The finish gives UT four top-five placements this season.

Duke's Lindy Duncan captured medalist honors with a 71-71-70=212 (-4) total.

Up next for the Lady Vols is the SEC Championship held April 20-22 in Fayetteville, Ark.