The NC State women’s golf squad lost to Virginia and UNC-Chapel Hill but beat Richmond in the Cavalier Match Play event in Charlottesville, Virginia. The April 6-7 competition featured eight teams with a bracket-style finish.
After getting swept 5-0 by the host, Virginia, on day one, the seventh-seeded Pack took on the Tar Heels in the second round, falling 3-2 before finally getting a win over Richmond in 4-1 fashion to end Wednesday.
In the first-round quarterfinals against UVA, NC State didn’t stand much of a chance against the No. 2-seed home team. The closest match was between NC State junior Lea Klimentova and UVA’s Jennifer Cleary, which went to the 21st hole before Cleary earned the point. The other close match was freshman Isabel Amezcua’s one-hole defeat at the hands of Virginia’s Beth Lillie.
Although Virginia took all five matchups, none of them were blowouts. Sophomore Natalie Ambruester lost by three holes with one to go, but the other two matches were two-hole differences.
Virginia’s Riley Smyth (2 up) over senior Monika Vicario
Virginia’s Jennifer Cleary (21 holes) over Klimentova
Virginia’s Beth Lillie (3&1) over Ambruester
Virginia’s Celeste Valinho (1 up) over Amezcua
Virginia’s Virginia Bossi (2&1) over sophomore Inja Fric
The loss pushed NC State to the loser’s side of the tournament to face North Carolina, which lost 3-2 to Virginia Tech. Wednesday morning was also a 3-2 result, with the Tar Heels squeaking out a close one. Vicario dominated her matchup, winning by five holes with three to go.
The other close matchup also went in the way of the Pack as Ambruester beat UNC’s Nicole Adam in 20 holes after dropping the last hole to allow Adam to tie it up. The rest of the three matches were all won by North Carolina by two or three holes.
Vicario (5&3) over UNC’s Crista Izuzquiza
UNC’s Jennifer Zhou (3&2) over Klimentova
Ambruester (20 holes) over UNC’s Nicole Adam
UNC’s Kayla Smith (2&1) over Amezcua
UNC’s Natalia Aseguinolaza (3&2) over Fric
Duke ended up beating Virginia Tech 3-2 in the finals with Maryland beating Virginia to take third place. Louisville beat UNC to take fifth place, and finally, NC State avoided a last-place finish over Richmond.
Eighth-seeded Richmond had already lost to top-seeded Duke and fifth-seeded Louisville before facing the Wolfpack. Winning four matches to one, NC State blew the doors off the Spiders, taking three of the five wins by five holes with four to go. The other win was Fric by three holes with two to go. Ambruester had the only loss, working from behind after the fourth hole.
Klimentova (5&4) over Richmond’s Muskan Uppal
Vicario (5&4) over Richmond’s Emily Ward
Amezcua (5&4) over Richmond’s Wenqi Vicky Zhu
Fric (3&2) over Richmond’s Naomi Mitchell
Richmond’s Rory Weinfurther (2&1) over Ambruester
The Pack will be back in action in Greensboro for the women’s golf ACC Championship at Sedgefield Country Club. The four day event kicks off on April 15.
