Sept. 15, 2008

HANAHAN, S.C. - The Lady Vols charged up the leader board on Monday at the Cougar Classic, moving into a tie for 12th place during day two of competition at the College of Charleston's season-opening tournament.

UT carded a team score of 295, 13 strokes better than their day one score, enabling the squad to improve six spots after starting the day tied for 18th on the par-72, 6,159-yard course at Yeamans Hall Golf Course.

The Lady Vols will take a total score of 603 into the final round on Tuesday in a deadlock with Tulane.

"We played much better today," UT head women's golf coach Judi Pavon said. "The team went out more focused and determined to play well and it showed from the start."

The Big Orange started the second round on a torrid pace, as each player carded at least two birdies during the first nine holes of the day. Starting the day on hole 10, the Lady Vols torched the back nine and were one-under par as a team at the turn.

Freshman Nathalie Mansson led UT with a pair of birdies and no bogeys before the turn, while sophomore Lauren Spurlock (-1), Diana Cantú (Even) and Ginny Brown (+1) also played great over the first nine holes of the day.

The Lady Vols were unable to keep the torrid pace up on the front nine after the turn and finished seven-over for the day. Each player, however, carded a better 18-hole score than Sunday's opening round.

Mansson added two more birdies and a pair of bogeys over the final nine holes to finish with a two-under 70. Her two-day total of 144 (E) puts her in a tie for 13th heading into the final round.

Cantú moved from 54th to 39th by firing a 74, a two-shot improvement from round one. Brown (75) finished round two five strokes better, while Spurlock (76) was two shots below her round one score. The Memphis, Tenn., native was having a phenomenal round until she closed with three bogeys and a double bogey on the last five holes.

Mansson, Cantú and Brown each had four birdies on the day.

"We turned under par which was great and gave us some much needed confidence," Pavon said. "Nathalie had an awesome day, and could have been even better. She is a very good player. Lauren had an awesome round going but ran into some trouble on the last couple holes. Diana played very well, but didn't score as well as she played. Ginny had a solid round from start to finish.

"The girls looked much better on the course today and we'll try to bring that same focus and determination tomorrow."

UT's No. 5 player, sophomore Rebecca Watson also improved on the second day of the tournament, shooting a 79, three strokes better than her round one score.

Georgia broke away from the field on Monday by totaling a nine-under 279 team score and leads by 13 strokes over second place Virginia with a two-day total of 567. Following Virginia (580) are three Southeastern Conference squads, Alabama (581), South Carolina (5816 and Louisiana State (587).

Georgia's Mallory Hetzel leads the individual standings by three strokes after carding a 69 to head into the final round with a 36-hole total of 137 (-7).

The final round begins in a shot gun format at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday.

Lady Vol Placements
T13.	Nathalie Mansson	74-70=144
T39.	Diana Cantu	76-74=150
T70.	Lauren Spurlock	78-76=154
T74.	Ginny Brown	80-75=155
T97.	Rebecca Watson	82-79=161
(Ind.)	Emily Sills	85-85=170
Lady Vol Team Score
T12.	Tennessee	308-295=603