After opening the spring season with a title at the UCF Challenge in Orlando, the Virginia women’s golf team placed second at the 12-team Florida State Match-Up in Tallahassee, Florida. The No. 17 Cavaliers improved throughout the three-day, 54-hole event and shot 19-over 883 overall to finish seven strokes behind champion No. 26 Furman.
Stuck in seventh place after shooting 12-over 300 in Friday’s opening round, Virginia stormed into second on day two, carding a 6-over 294 behind junior Elizabeth Szokol’s 2-under 70. As host Florida State and No. 2 South Carolina stumbled in Sunday’s finale, the Cavaliers remained just steady enough to finish beside No. 9 Mississippi State in second place.
Szokol shot 1-over 217 and placed fifth to pace Virginia. The Winnetka, Illinois native finished three strokes back of co-medalists Texas A&M sophomore Bianca Fabrizio and Furman sophomore Taylor Totland for her second top-five finish of the season.
Junior Lauren Coughlin and senior Briana Mao shot 4-over 220 and 5-over 221, respectively, to place 14th and 17th. Meanwhile, sophomore Lauren Diaz-Yi recovered from a rough start to the tournament with a final-round 2-under 70. A co-medalist at the UCF Challenge, Diaz-Yi finished 23rd at 9-over 225.
Junior Alex Hershberger placed 63rd for Virginia, while freshmen Maho Hayakawa and Sarah Kolodzik—who competed as individuals in stroke play — placed 46th and 51st, respectively.
The Cavaliers will compete March 6-8 at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in Hilton Head, South Carolina.