UVA stages third-round rally to advance to Match Play at ACCs

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Posted on Saturday, Apr. 16, 2022, 9:33 am

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

golfFor the second year in a row, Virginia used a third-round rally to rocket up the leaderboard and grab one of the four spots in the match play semifinals at the ACC women’s golf championships. During Friday’s third round of play, UVA posted the day’s best score, shooting 2-over 290 to finish fourth after the 54-hole stroke play portion of the event. The Cavaliers started the day tied for seventh place and were five shots out of fourth place.

Combined with its opening day score, the Cavaliers finished stroke play at 16-over 880. UVA entered the tournament as the number-two seed. Fourth-ranked and top-seeded Wake Forest won stroke play at even par 864. Florida State, ranked No. 16, was second at 5-over 869 and No. 24 Duke also advanced to match play after finishing at 9-over 873.

The Cavaliers and Demon Deacons will face off in one of the match play semifinals starting at 9:50 a.m. Saturday. The winner will meet the victorious team from the other semifinal featuring Florida State and Duke in Sunday’s final. The Seminoles and Blue Devils semifinal match will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Last year UVA lost to Duke 3-2 in the semifinals.

Junior Celeste Valinho and sophomore Jennifer Cleary led the Cavaliers during the third round by shooting identical scores of even par 72 at The Reserve Golf Club of Pawleys Island. Valinho placed 13th in stroke place at 3-over 219 while Cleary was 24th at 8-over 224.

UVA’s top finisher in stroke play was freshman Amanda Sambach. She tied for third at 1-under 215, including a score of 1-over 73 during the third round. Her finish was her best at UVA and her third top-10 performance of the season. Sambach has placed in the top-25 in eight of nine events during her first season for UVA.

Graduate student Beth Lillie also shot 73 during the final round and placed 28th overall at 9-over 255. Senior Riley Smyth was 39th at 230. She shot 78 during the final round.

Only six players managed to finish under par during the tournament. Duke’s Phoebe Brinker took home medalist honors at 10-under 206.

The semifinals and finals of the championship match play will be televised live on ACC Network Extra. Jim Kelly (play-by-play) and Jane Crafter (analyst) will provide the call. A championship recap show will air April 25 at 7 p.m. on ACCN.

Commonwealth Clash Point for Hoos

By virtue of finishing ahead of Virginia Tech at the ACC Championships, UVA claimed the point at stake between the two schools in the Smithfield Commonwealth Cup Clash, the all-sports points-based program between the two rivals. The Hokies currently lead the competition 9.5-5.5.

ACC Championships

The Reserve Golf Course

Pawleys Island, S.C.

Par 72, 6,212 yards

Third Round Results

Team Results

  1. Wake Forest    287-281-296-864
  2. Florida State  286-282-301-869
  3. Duke           295-280-298-873
  4. Virginia       293-297-290-880
  5. Clemson        297-290-303-890
  6. North Carolina 294-298-300-892
  7. NC State       289-296-308-893
  8. Virginia Tech  296-289-308-893
  9. Miami          300-295-302-897
  10. Louisville     299-291-316-906
  11. Boston College 303-297-312-912
  12. Notre Dame     310-304-305-919

Individual Leaders

  1. Phoebe Brinker, Duke                 70—65-71-206
    2. Erica Shepherd, Duke                 75-68-69-212
  2. Amanda Sambach, Virginia             70-72-73-215
  3. Lauren Walsh, Wake Forest            75-67-73-215
  4. Kendall Griffin, Louisville          73-69-73-215
  5. Virunpat Olankitkunchai, Wake Forest 71-70-74-215

Virginia Results

  1. Amanda Sambach   70-72-73-215
  2. Celeste Valinho  74-73-72-219
  3. Jennifer Cleary  75-77-72-224
  4. Beth Lillie      74-78-73-225
  5. Riley Smyth      77-75-78-230