Virginia Women's Golfers Set to Begin Play at NCAA West Regional

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Auburn, WA – The sixth-ranked Virginia women’s golf team opens play at the NCAA West Regional Thursday, May 5 at Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash. The Cavaliers are one of 24 teams attempting to earn their way to the NCAA Championships by finishing in the top eight of the 54-hole, three-day tournament. Virginia is the No. 2 seed in the West Regional field. The Cavaliers will tee off at 9:06 a.m. (PT) Thursday from the No. 1 tee during the first round and will be paired with No. 1 seed USC and No. 3 seed Arizona. During Friday’s second round those same schools will start play from the No. 10 hole at 1:26 p.m. (PT). Saturday’s final round is based on team standings.

West Regional Links
• West Regional Tournament Central
• Golfstat.com Live Scoring
• Live Chat From Washington National
• Follow West Regional On Twitter

NCAA Regional History
This year’s West Regional marks the seventh straight year the Cavaliers have earned a postseason berth. Virginia has advanced through the regional to the NCAA Championships in each of the last three seasons and also in 2005. UVa’s top regional finish was a fourth-place showing in 2009. Last year Virginia placed fifth at the West Regional held at the Stanford Golf Course. Calle Nielson took medalist honors by shooting 1-over 214. She is the only Cavalier to win a NCAA regional. Leah Wigger was the runner up at the 2005 East Regional held at the University of Florida Golf Course.

Regional Lineup
Virginia’s lineup for the West Regional will include seniors Calle Nielson and Joy Kim, sophomores Brittany Altomare and Nicole Agnello and freshman Portland Rosen. Nielson, Kim, Altomare and Agnello all played in the 2010 West Regional and the NCAA Championships. This will be the fourth NCAA regional appearance for Nielson and Kim. Kim led UVa with a seventh-place finish at the 2008 East Regional.

2010-11 UVa Individual Statistics

Top Top
Player Events Rounds Strokes Avg. Round 54-Hole Finish 10 60s -Par Par
Brittany Altomare 9 27 1972 73.04 68 210 1 4 5 7 2
Calle Nielson 9 27 2015 74.63 67 211 8 2 3 6 1
Portland Rosen 7 21 1575 75.00 69 215 3 1 1 1 3
Nicole Agnello 8 24 1828 76.17 69 220 11 0 1 1 0
Joy Kim 6 18 1379 76.61 68 219 11 0 1 2 1

The West Regional Field
The West Regional is filled with some of the nation’s finest teams, including top-ranked Southern California. In all, 16 teams in the field are ranked among the nation’s top-50 programs in the latest Golfstat.com poll and eight are ranked in the top-25. Five players are ranked among Golfstat.com’s top-10. Below are the teams and individuals that will be competing, with their Golfstat.com rankings in parentheses. Also, listed are the competitors ranked in Golfstat.com’s top-50.

1. USC (1), 
2. Virginia (6), 
3. Arizona (7), 
4. Georgia (12), 
5. Tennessee (13), 
6. Pepperdine (19), 
7. Iowa State (15), 
8. UC Davis (23), 
9. Texas A&M (27), 
10. Oklahoma (28), 
11. Oregon (33), 
12. South Carolina (36), 
13. Washington (38), 
14. Tulsa (42), 
15. Denver (47), 
16. San Diego State (49), 
17. Brigham Young (51), 
18. New Mexico (52), 
19. Texas-San Antonio (57), 
20. Portland State (60), 
21. New Mexico State (64), 
22. San Jose State (71), 
23. Oral Roberts (88) and 
24. UTEP (97)

Golfstat.com Top-50 Players

2. Marta Silva (Georgia)
, 3. Sophia Popov (Southern California), 
4. Lizette Salas (Southern California)
, 9. Erica Popson (Tennessee)
, 13. Kayla Mortellaro (Idaho), 
18. Danielle Kang (Pepperdine)
, 21. Brittany Altomare (Virginia)
, 22. Isabelle Boineau (Arizona), 
36. Grace Na (Pepperdine
), 39. Amy Anderson (North Dakota State), 
46. Margarita Ramos (Arizona) and 47. Katerina Ruzickova (Texas A&M)