USC
2011 NCAA Regional
Salas Helps No. 1 USC Maintain Regional Lead
May 06, 2011 | Women's Golf
May 6, 2011
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Senior Lizette Salas fired a 5-under 67 while freshmen Rachel Morris and Sophia Popov joined her in the top 5 as the No. 1 USC women's golf team maintained first place after two rounds at the 2011 NCAA West Regional on Friday (May 6) at the Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash.
In a 24-team field, USC extended its lead to seven strokes and is now at 4-under 572 (288-284) with 18 holes to play. Tennessee is second (579) while Virginia is well back in third (591). The top eight teams from the West, Central and East Regionals will advance to the NCAA Championships, May 18-21, at Texas A&M. Texas A&M and Oregon are tied for eighth at 27-over, making the Trojans' chances to advance look quite secure.
Troy has had great success at the NCAA Regional events, winning in 1999 (West), 2003 (West), 2006 (Central), 2007 (Central), 2008 (West) and 2010 (Central). Another title would tie Duke for most regional crowns at seven.
USC is looking to advance out of the NCAA Regional for the 14th year in a row in its 20th consecutive NCAA appearance (the last 14 under 15th-year Head Coach Andrea Gaston). It is after its third NCAA title with wins in 2003 and 2008.
"We got off to a great start on the tougher nine which gave us a lot of momentum," Gaston said. "The conditions became more difficult late in the day when we gave back a few shots. Overall (assistant coach) Josh (Brewer) and I are really proud with how well our team played today."
Playing without injured junior Lisa McCloskey, who is ranked in the top five nationally, the Trojans have stepped up to fill the void. In addition to the aforementioned trio, junior Inah Park is tied for 13th at 3-over 147 (73-74) while junior Cyna Rodriguez is tied for 42nd at 8-over 152 (79-73).
Salas had one of her top days of the year in notching her 14th career round in the 60s, one off the school record. Starting on the 10th hole with the rest of the team, she opened with five birdies in her first 10 holes and finished at par the rest of the way. Salas, three strokes back of first-place Erica Popson of Tennessee, is seeking her seventh top 7 finish this year.
Popov, riding a streak of seven straight top seven finishes, is in fourth at 2-under 142 (69-73). Discounting her double bogey to start the round, she was 1-under with four birdies.
Morris is gunning for her fourth top 20 mark and is tied for fifth at even 144 (73-71). She was 1-under going out and par coming back, mixing in five birdies in the 1-under round.
Park registered her second straight solid outing and was 1-over on both nines. Rodriguez rebounded from a tough first round with a 1-over second round with four birdies.
Players Mentioned
