Women's golf in 14th at NCAA East Regional

May 8, 2014

AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn women's golf team shot 5-over 293 Thursday, in the first round of the NCAA East Regional at the SouthWood Golf Club to finish the day in 14th overall.

Hosted by Florida State, the NCAA East Regional is a 54-hole stroke play championship being played at the SouthWood Golf Club in Tallahassee, Fla. The par-72 course is playing at 6,257 yards for the three-day tournament.

"We played very fair today and were closing to play well," Auburn head coach Kim Evans said. "We have to regroup and come out tomorrow and play strong golf.'

Freshman Clara Baena provided the Tigers with a steady pace throughout the opening round of play on Thursday. Baena shot even-par 72 during the opening round to lead the team in her first appearance at an NCAA Regional event, tying for 28th overall. Junior Victoria Trapani followed up with a 1-over 73 in the first round to finish tied for 46th.

Senior Marta Sanz and sophomore Alex Harrell finished the day tied for 60th with 2-over 74s. Senior Diana Fernandez is tied for 99th with a 5-over 77.

SEC Champion Vanderbilt leads the field following day one, posting an 11-under 277, followed by Tulane in second place at 8-under 280. Virginia is third (283), Duke is in fourth (284) and NC State (286) is in fifth heading into Friday's round.

Texas State, UCF and East Tennessee are in a three-way tie for sixth at 1-over 289. The top-eight teams and top-two individuals not on advancing teams at the conclusion of the tournament advance to the NCAA Championships in Tulsa, Okla.

Individually, Tulane's Emily Penttila is in the lead after firing a 7-under 65 on Thursday, followed by Duke's Celine Boutier in second at 5-under 67. Six players are tied for third-place overall heading into the second round at 4-under 68.

Action in the regional continues at 7:30 a.m. CT, Friday with the second round teeing off from Nos. 1 and 10 tee. The Tigers will tee off on No. 10 at 11:05 a.m. CT playing alongside Virginia and NC State.

For complete coverage on the Auburn men's tennis team, visit AuburnTigers.com, follow @AUWomensGolf on Twitter and `like' the Auburn Women's Golf page on Facebook.