Feb. 5, 2012
Boca Raton, Fla. - The University of Illinois women's golf team defeated the Illinois State golf team at the Illinois Challenge at the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club in Boca Raton, Fla. on Saturday by a 4.5-5.5 final score.
In the morning four-ball session, Illinois State golfers Katie Jean and Hayley Guyton defeated Illinois' Ember Schuldt and Katelin Dilger 2 and 1, earning ISU a point. In the next group, the Redbird's Hannah Bachman and Jordyn Wyzgowski halved with the Illini's Hailey Koschmann and Crystal Smith earning both team a half-point. Nora Lucas and Michelle Mayer of Illinois defeated Redbirds Carlee Cossell and Brianna Cooper 3 and 1. In the final group of the morning, the Illini's Samantha Sloan and Jacqueline Calamaro beat Illinois State duo Rachel Powers and Kaitlin Reid 4 and 3.
At the conclusion of the four-ball round Illinois held a 2.5-1.5 advantage over Illinois State.
The afternoon singles matches saw both teams split 4-4. Jean was again victorious, this time defeating Schuldt. Other wins for the Redbirds included Guyton over Wampler, Reid over Maureen Liddy and Cooper over Calamaro. For Illinois, Koschmann defeated Powers, Pimploy Thirati finished over Wyzgowski, Lucas over Bachman, and Sloan over Cossell.
Despite the outcome, head coach Darby Sligh was pleased with her team's spring debut.
"Although we didn't come up winners today, we played some great golf and started to reveal the true potential of this team. We showed so much heart and I honestly couldn't be more proud, said Sligh. "Katie and Hayley came up big today, leading us in both the morning and afternoon. Kaitlin and Brianna also came through with big afternoon wins that pushed us to the finish. We came up just short, but we have so many positive things to take into the rest of our spring season."
The women's golf team returns to action February 26th at the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate at Kiawah Island, S.C.
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