Virginia (+13) finished in second place, only three strokes behind regional champion San Jose State (+10). The University of Virginia finished 18 strokes ahead of Virginia Tech (+31) and 30 strokes ahead of ACC for North Carolina (+43).
Thanks to an impressive second round, Virginia began the final day of the three-day competition in first place on the leaderboard. After tying for fourth position in the first round with a score of 10+, the Cavaliers posted a 3-under 281 in the second round, the third-best score ever achieved by a women’s golf team at the University of Michigan Golf Course.
The sophomore Jennifer Cleary achieved a career-best 4-under 67 and ended the round in second place on the individual leaderboard. Cleary is only the fourth golfer in Virginia history to shoot a 67 in an NCAA Regional. The second round scores of freshman Amanda Sambach and graduate student Beth Lillie were 1 under par. The Cavaliers’ remarkable second-round performance propelled them from fourth to first position at 7+.
On Wednesday’s third and final round, UVA shot +6 as a team and ended in second place at +13 overall, comfortably ahead of Arkansas and Michigan in third place at +28. On the final day, junior Celeste Valinho led the Cavaliers with a 1-under-par score of 70 that featured three birdies.
Virginia has qualified for the 2022 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships, which will be held from May 20 to May 25 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. This is Virginia’s twelfth participation in the NCAA Championships.
