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UVa Women's Golfers Set to Open Play at NCAA Championships
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Bryan, TX – The No. 5 Virginia women’s golf team will open play at the 2011 NCAA Championships Wednesday at The Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas. The 72-hole tournament runs through Saturday and is hosted by Texas A&M. The Cavaliers advanced to the NCAA Championships for a fourth consecutive season after a tying for third place at the NCAA West Regional in Auburn, Wash. Virginia is one of seven teams playing in the NCAA Championships for the fourth consecutive season.
The Cavaliers will tee off at 12:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday during the first round. Virginia will start from the No. 10 tee and be paired with Arizona State and Minnesota. Those same teams will begin the second round Thursday at 8 a.m. CT from the first tee. Live scoring for the tournament will be on NCAASports.com.
The Virginia Lineup
Nicole Agnello So. Longwood, FL 75.80
Brittany Altomare So. Shrewsbury, MA 73.70
Portland Rosen Fr. Sugar Land, TX 75.13
Joy Kim Sr. Duluth, GA 76.29
Calle Nielson Sr. Nashville, TN 74.37
NCAA History
This year’s appearance marks the fifth time in Virginia’s eight-year history the team has advanced to the NCAA Championships. The other appearances came in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Last year Virginia was 13th (1184) behind freshman Brittany Altomare’s 15th-place showing (289). In 2009 the Cavaliers were eighth (1212) as Calle Nielson placed sixth (294) at Caves Valley. In 2008 the team finished 12th overall (1215), led by Lene Krog’s 28th-place finish (299). In the Cavaliers’ first NCAA appearance in 2005, current professional Leah Wigger finished second overall at the event held at the Sun River Resort in Sun River, Ore. She shot 3-over 287 including a 69 during the final round. The Cavaliers were 13th overall.
Previous NCAA Championship/Regional Appearances
2005 – 13th at NCAA Championships; 5th at NCAA East Regional
2006 – 8th (lost tiebreaker) at NCAA East Regional
2007 – 9th (tie) at NCAA East Regional
2008 – 12th at NCAA Championships; 5th at NCAA East Regional
2009 – 8th at NCAA Championships; 4th at NCAA East Regional
2010 – 13th at NCAA Championships; 5th at NCAA West Regional
2011 – 3rd at NCAA West Regional
The Polls
Virginia enters the NCAA Championships ranked No. 5 by Golfstat and No. 7 by Golfweek and in the NGCA Coaches Poll. Sophomore Brittany Altomare is ranked No. 21 in the Golfstat individual rankings and is No. 15 in the Golfweek standings. Senior Calle Nielson is ranked No. 56 by Golfstat and No. 40 by Golfweek. Freshman Portland Rosen is ranked No. 83 by Golfstat and No. 65 by Golfweek.
One of Seven
The UVa women’s golf team finished third at the NCAA West Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships for the fourth straight year. UVa is one of seven teams to make a fourth straight appearance at the NCAA Championships. The other schools are: Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Purdue, UCLA and USC.
Reviewing the Fall Preview
Virginia, ranked No. 11 at the time, shot 2-under 286 during the final round of The Fall Preview to finish eighth in the 18-team field at The Traditions, site of this year’s NCAA Championships. Virginia was led by senior Calle Nielson who was 13th overall at 3-under 213. She carded a final round score of 1-under 71. Sophomore Brittany Altomare led the Cavaliers on the final day with a 3-under 69 to move up to 19th overall at 1-over 217. Nicole Agnello was 30th for Virginia at 4-over 220. Eleana Collins placed 59th at 227 Joy Kim was 91st overall at 241. Freshman Portland Rosen did not compete at the Fall Preview.
All-ACC Honors
Senior Calle Nielson and sophomore Brittany Altomare were named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference women’s golf team this season. Nielson was honored all four seasons she has competed at Virginia. Altomare picked up the accolade for the second consecutive year. Nielson became just the second Cavalier to be named to the all-conference team four times. Former Cavalier Leah Wigger was an all-ACC performer four years in a row from 2004-2007.