Monday, September 11, 2006

            DRAPER VALLEY, Va. (Sept. 11, 2006) - Overcoming the loss of their No. 2 player to a flu bug on the eve of the first day of play in the Draper Valley Invitational, the ETSU women's golf team fired team rounds of 291 and 294 at the Draper Valley Golf Course to finish atop the team leaderboard.

            The Bucs, competing in their first tournament of the 2006-07 season, are currently leading Western Carolina by four strokes, despite playing without the services of sophomore Lucy Gould (Bargoed, Wales), who practiced during Sunday's warm-up round but was unable to overcome a late evening illness.

            With Gould out, the Bucs were led by junior Natalia Giraldo (Cali, Colombia), who fired a first-day score of 144 (70-74) and currently stands tied for third, just one stroke off the individual lead. Meanwhile, freshman Laura Jansone (Jurmala, Latvia) posted a score of 145 (71-74) in her first collegiate competition, ending the day in sole possession of fifth-place. Along with Giraldo and Jansone, fellow freshman Sarah Jane Sinard (White Pine, Tenn.) posted a 147 to tie for 10^th.

"I was excited and knew we had been playing well in practice and qualifying," said ETSU head coach Stefanie Reynolds. "But today was just great. We were very consistent, and to have freshmen playing with such confidence and leadership is special. For our first event of the year, the girls look very solid. If we can stay consistent we should be OK tomorrow."

Play in the final round of the Draper Valley Invitational will conclude on Tuesday. For a complete wrap-up of the day's play, visit ETSUBucs.com.