The Valparaiso University women’s golf team teed off the spring season on Sunday, competing in two rounds of match play at the Motor City Cup in Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla. at Mission Inn Resort & Club. Valpo started the spring on a positive note, topping Missouri Valley Conference mate Loyola 3.5-2.5 to start the event. Valpo went on to give IUPUI all it could handle in the semifinal round, but fell 4.0-2.0.

How It Happened – Loyola

• The match against the Ramblers came down to the wire, as all three Valpo victories came in the 17^th hole or later. Loyola went up two by notching wins through 15 and 16 holes at the bottom of the lineup, but Valpo took care of business in the matches that required the final two holes to be played.  
• Senior Tiffany Curtis (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point) started her spring by besting Morgan Brown 2&1 and sophomore Payton Hodson (Middleton, Wis. / Middleton) captured a 3&1 victory over Jenny Myslinski.
• Cailey Rooker (St. Joseph, Mich. / St. Joseph) used all 18 holes to nail down her win over Sara Posada, going one up. Valpo also received a half point from senior Kayla Krueger (Spring Lake, Mich. / Spring Lake), who was all even through 18 in her matchup with Lorenza Martinez.

How It Happened – IUPUI

• Valpo boasted a strong showing from Shelby Schier (Greenwood, Ind. / Center Grove) in the match against IUPUI as she made quick work of Annie Eisenbarth by going 7&5.
• A pair of Valpo golfers “halved” their matches against the Jaguars, with Krueger and Rooker picking up a half a point apiece by playing even through 18.
• IUPUI won the remaining three matches to edge its way to victory. Two of those IUPUI wins required all 18 holes to be played.
• The Jaguars entered the spring season ranked 138^th nationally by GolfStat, while Valpo is 236^th, making Sunday’s semifinal showing a rather impressive effort on the part of the Brown & Gold. The win over Loyola came against a team ahead of Valpo in the national rankings.

Thoughts from Head Coach Jill McCoy

“Our team played extremely well today. This morning’s match against Loyola was one of the most intense matches we’ve had in my time as head coach. I’m very proud of how focused the team was and how well they played. They played all 36 holes with a lot of thought and confidence and it really showed. We were so close to beating IUPUI; at one point we were winning four of the six matches. I’m really proud to say we stayed very competitive with a team ranked almost 100 spots higher than us in the national rankings. I really look forward to carrying this positive energy and momentum into tomorrow to see what we can accomplish.”

Up Next

Valpo will spend one more day competing in the sunshine state as the third and final match of the event will occur on Monday. Valpo will play host Oakland in the third-place match. A link to live scoring via GolfStat is available on ValpoAthletics.com.