No. 10 Virginia Opens Play at NCAA Championships Friday
CARLSBAD, Calif. — The No. 10 Virginia women’s golf team is set to compete in the NCAA Championships for the fourth consecutive season when competition gets underway Friday (May 16) at the Omni LaCosta Resort in Carlsbad, Calif. The Cavaliers will tee off at 1:07 p.m. PT (4:07 p.m. ET) along with Northwestern and LSU. Virginia qualified for the NCAA Championships following a third-place finish at the Charlottesville Regional.
Virginia is one of 30 teams competing for the national championships and stroke play champion.
After three days (May 16-18) of stroke play, the field is reduced to 15 teams and the top nine individuals not on one of those teams for the fourth round (May 20) that will decide the individual champion.
During the second round, UVA, Arizona and Oklahoma State will start at 7:47 a.m. PT (10:47 ET). The third round is repaired based on the team standings. It starts at 6:30 a.m. PT while Monday’s final round of stroke play starts at 10:30 a.m. PT.
Virginia is one of four ACC teams to advance to the NCAA Championships. The others are Florida State, Wake Forest and Stanford.
The Virginia Lineup
| Name | Year | Hometown | Stroke Avg. |
| Megan Propeck | Sr. | Leawood, Kans. | 72.70 |
| Amanda Sambach | Sr. | Pinehurst, N.C. | 71.11 |
| Jaclyn LaHa | So. | Pleasanton, Calif. | 73.53 |
| Kennedy Swedick | Fr. | Albany, N.Y. | 74.10 |
| Rebecca Skoler | Gr. | Needham, Mass. | 74.25 |
| Kiera Bartholomew* | So. | Wake Forest, N.C. | 76.58 |
*Alternate
| In the Rankings | NCAA | WAGR | Coaches |
| Virginia | 10 | 11 | |
| Amanda Sambach | 18 | 21 | |
| Megan Propeck | 55 |
Coverage
Golf Channel will feature extensive coverage of the championship beginning Monday, May 19. Here is a full listing of the coverage with all times eastern:
Monday, May 19 – 6-10 p.m. Live Coverage
Tuesday, May 20 – 6-10 p.m. Live Coverage Match Play
Wednesday, May 22 – 6-10 p.m. Live Coverage Match Play Championship
Regional Recap
The Cavaliers placed third at the NCAA Charlottesville Regional at Birdwood Golf Course. It was the first time Virginia has ever hosted a regional championship. UVA shot 12-over 864 to advance to the Championships. The team was led by Megan Propeck who finished fourth overall at an even-par 213. Kennedy Swedick entered the tournament as a substitute on the second day and carded a career-low 3-under 68 in the final round. Her bogey-free round featured three birdies and tied the low score of the final day.
Elite Company
Virginia is one of 11 teams in this year’s NCAA field to have qualified for the three most recent championships including: Baylor, Florida State, LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Stanford, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Wake Forest. In 2022, the Cavaliers placed 15th after making the initial cut in stroke play. The Cavaliers placed 24th in 2023 and finished 28th last season.
NCAA Experience
UVA’s travel roster includes four players with experience at the NCAA Championships including Megan Propeck, Amanda Sambach, Jaclyn LaHa and Rebecca Skoler. Sambach, Propeck and Skoler have each played at least one round at the final site of multiple championships.
Sambach is set to compete in her fourth consecutive NCAA Championship. Her highest individual finish came in her freshman season when she placed 31st overall (74-76-71-75-296). Skoler is also poised to make her fourth consecutive appearance at the final site of the championships – she entered as a substitute in her freshman season (2022).
NCAA History
Virginia is making its 15th NCAA Championships appearance in the 22-year history of the program. UVA’s best finishes at the NCAAs were back-to-back fourth-place showings in 2011 and 2012. In 2016, the Cavaliers finished fifth in stroke-play and lost to Washington 3-1-1 in the quarterfinals of match play. Last season, the Cavaliers were in 28th place after 54 holes and did not advance to the final round of stroke play.
Coaching Notes
- Head Coach Ria Scott is leading UVA to its fifth team appearance at the NCAA Championships. She guided the team to the final site in her first season at UVA in 2019 and again in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
- She has led UVA to NCAA regional play in each of her seven seasons at the helm excluding the 2020 season in which there was no postseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- She coached Oregon to postseason play in all nine of her seasons in Eugene.
- Scott led the International team to the 202 Palmer Cup championship and was an assistant coach on the 2019 international squad that also won the competition.