KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Virginia women’s golf team is in first place following the opening 36 holes of play at Tennessee’s Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship in Knoxville, Tenn. The Cavaliers posted rounds of -7, 277 and -8, 276 at the par-71 Cherokee Country Club for a first-day total of 15-under 553. UCF is in second place at 555 and Wake Forest is third at 559.

The Cavaliers had a trio of players end the opening two rounds among the top-10 on the leaderboard. Heading up that group is junior Jennifer Cleary who had rounds of 67 and 68 to stand in fourth place at 7-under 135. Cleary’s morning round equaled her best single-round score as a collegiate. One stroke behind her is sophomore Amanda Sambach. She shot 67 and 69 on Monday.

Senior Celeste Valinho is in eighth position at 137. She had scores of 70 and 67. Like Cleary, Valinho’s 67 matched her low single-round total at Virginia. Sophomore Megan Propeck is in 34th place at 146 with opening rounds of 2-over 73 and grad student Riley Smyth is 54th at 150. She shot 78 in the morning and rebounded with a 72 in the afternoon.

Rebecca Skoler, playing as an individual, is in 16th position at 141. She shot 74 and 67. Skoler’s closing score was her best in two seasons at UVA.

The Cavaliers led the 14-team field with 40 birdies during the first day, topped by 11 from Cleary and nine each from Sambach and Valinho.

The final round of the tournament gets underway at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday. Live scoring is online at Golfstat.com.

Mercedes-Benz Collegiate
Cherokee Country Club
Knoxville, Tenn.
Par 71, 5,921 yards
Second-Round Results

Team Results
 1. Virginia        277-276-553
 2. UCF             275-280-555
 3. Wake Forest     286-273-559
 4. Kent State      284-278-562
 5. Virginia Tech   281-285-566
 6. Michigan        281-287-568
 7. Tennessee       289-282-571
 8. Michigan State  294-284-578
 9. Purdue          297-284-581
 9. Maryland        292-289-581
11. BYU             294-296-590
12. Chattanooga     288-302-594
13. Mercer          295-296-596
14. Augusta         311-301-612

Individual Leaders
1. Tunrada Piddon, UCF           68-64-132
2. Bailey Davis, Tennessee       70-63-133
3. Noramol Nuchsila, Kent State  68-66-134

Virginia Results
 4. Jennifer Cleary  67-68-135
 7. Amanda Sambach   67-69-136
 8. Celeste Valinho  70-67-137
16. Rebecca Skoler*  74-67-141
34. Megan Propeck    73-73-146
54. Riley Smyth      78-72-150
* Competing as individual