College ACC CHAMPS UVA wins first ACC Championship title in record-setting performance


Coach Kim Lewellen(top row L to R), Elizabeth Szokol, Lauren Diaz-Yi, Lauren Coughlin, Assistant Coach Calle Nielson, (bottom row) Briana Mao and Lyberty Anderson.


he University of Virginia women’s golf team jumped out of the gates at the ACC Champion- ship and then never let off the accelerator as they cruised to a record-setting 54-hole team score of 27-under par at Sedgefield CC in North Carolina,to top runner-up Duke by 26 shots. Duke came into the tournament ranked 5th nationally and looking for their 4th consecutive ACC Championship crown but just couldn’t keep up with the breakout performance by the Cavs that included placing four players inside the top seven. “There aren’t words to describe how we as a team feel about winning this championship,” said head coach Kim Lewellen, a day after taking the title. “To win by 26 shots to the former national champions, and to make history by shooting the lowest recorded round in the ACC championship is just unbeliev- able.”


T Virginia was riding momentum coming into the


tournament after a team victory at the closing event of the regular season, the Bryan Park Invitational.


16 Virginia Golf Report • Spring 2015 • virginiagolfreport.com


But no one could have predicted the birdie barrage that was thrown at a field that included three teams ranked inside the top 20. At the end of 54-holes, Virginia had recorded 68 total team birdies, 19 more than the next best effort by the University of North Carolina.


Senior Briana Mao led the way for Virginia with rounds of 68-71-67, good enough to finish tied as low medalist. Mao lost a playoff with Duke freshman sensation Leona Maguire, the number one ranked player in the nation by Golfstat, on the second hole of sudden-death. Lauren Coughlin of Chesapeake, and Laura Diaz-Yi both finished tied for 4th. Lyberty Anderson, a freshman from Chesterfield, playing in her first ACC Championship, shot rounds of 68- 71-73, to finish alone in 7th place. Elizabeth Szokol finished tied for 17th with consistent scores of 73-73-72. Anderson and Coughlin both recorded a team-high 16 birdies. “Lyberty Anderson had her best tournament of the year, shooting unbelievable scores on a very dif-


ficult golf course, under extreme but wonderful pres- sure,” said Lewellen. “She stepped it up at the right time with the composure of a veteran.” Anderson, who won an unprecedented three straight Richmond Women’s Golf Association championships as a teen, said things finally clicked in Greensboro.


“I think that this is the breakthrough moment that


my coach and I have been waiting for all year long,” said Anderson, who along with Coughlin led the entire field with 16 birdies. But it was the team effort of the 11th ranked Cava- liers that impressed Lewellen most. “Every person on the team performed at their highest level, at the right time and I couldn’t be more proud of the hard work they put in for this to hap- pen,” said Lewellen. Virginia receives the automatic bid to NCAA Re- gional play as the ACC Champion.


Photo courtesy of J. Daves Assistant Athletics Director for Media Relations UVA


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