University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOL GOLF SILENCES CRITICS AT NCAA WEST REGIONAL
May 07, 2005 | Women's Golf
May 7, 2005
BY LANCE RINGLER
Golfweek Assistant Editor
The postseason career for Judi Pavon has certainly had its lows. But what comes around goes around. And this week at the NCAA West Regional Pavon is doing a 180-degree turn that will send her directly to the national finals for the second time in her five-year coaching career at Tennessee.
Tennessee entered the final round May 7 trailing Southern California by six shots, but quickly made up that deficit and took the lead only to be caught by UCLA to share the West Regional title with the Bruins.
The Lady Vols posted a final round even-par 288 to finish tied with UCLA at 889. The Bruins' 2-under 286 in the final round was the tournament's best score. Joining Tennessee and UCLA in the top eight are California, Southern California, Oklahoma State, UC Irvine, BYU and Stanford. The low eight teams advanced to the NCAA Championship May 17-20 in Sunriver, Ore.
Tennessee's lack of notoriety this time of year comes after a stretch of three consecutive misses at regional play. In Pavon's first season, an 11th place finish at the 2001 West Regional started a string the Lady Vols do not like to talk about. Tennessee went on to miss qualifying for nationals in 2002 with a 10th place showing in the East and again in 2003 after placing 18th in the Central.
