University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
NCAA Championship
Lady Vol Golf Falls in Match Play
May 26, 2015 | Women's Golf
BRADENTON, Fla. -- The No. 12 Tennessee women's golf team fell 3-1-1 to Baylor in the 2015 NCAA Women's Golf Match Play Championship quarterfinal match.
After finishing tied for sixth in stroke play, Head Coach Judi Pavon's Lady Volunteers qualified for the eight team match play championship to decide the 2015 NCAA Women's Golf Champion. The sixth seeded Lady Vols squared off with the third seeded Baylor Bears beginning on the 10th hole at The Concession Golf Club at 7:00 a.m. (ET).
Sophomore Lucia Polo was the Lady Vol selected to compete in the first match. She immediately fell behind after losing the first hole of match play, but bounced back to tie the match by winning the par-5 13th hole. Polo dropped the 15th and 16th holes, and made the turn down two. She got the match back to one down by winning the par-5 3rd, but was never able to gain ground, eventually losing the match three and two.
Fellow sophomore, Hannah Pietila was the next Lady Vol to begin match play. Pietila halved the first hole, won the second hole and never looked back, making the turn five up. She proceeded to end the match on the par-5 7th hole, winning four and two.
"I actually played really well today," said Pietila. "In my first six holes I hit the ball really well. I hit a lot of longer irons real close. I got off to a good start. I was six up through eight and had a little trouble closing it out. I bogeyed one and two. I missed two putts I should have made. Then I birdied five and that really helped. I played a lot better today than I did the last couple of days. It felt good to get something good going on this course."
Senior AJ Newell represented the Lady Vols in the third match. After a career day on Monday, Newell fell behind early when she lost the second hole of the match. She made the turn down three holes, but was not going to go down without a fight. With the senior's match dormie on the par-3 6th, she sunk a nervy birdie putt to extend the match. She ended up falling three and two on the par-5 7th when she halved the hole with a par.
"I was pretty tired. It's been a long week, but I felt like I gave it my all," said Newell. "She (Baylor's Hayley Davis) is a great player. She won regionals by a ton of shots. I knew I had her and it was going to be a good match. She's a fantastic player. I knew I would have to bring it. She won with a lot of birdies and I made a few mistakes. If I would've had my best today, I think I could have pulled it out. It's a long week and we are just happy to be here right now."
Sophomore Emmie Pietila was the fourth Lady Vol to tee off on Tuesday. After splitting the first hole, Pietila dropped the next when she recorded bogey. She made the turn two down, but won the 10th hole of the day with a par on the par-4 1st to get within one. Pietila could never gain quite enough ground and eventually ended up dropping the match on the par-5 7th, three and two.
Teeing off fifth, freshman Anna Newell was slated in the closer role for the Lady Vols. Both Newell and Baylor's Dylan Kim carded birdies on the par-4 10th to set the tone for the match. Newell lost the par-4 12th when Kim sank a birdie to take the lead. Anna immediately won the hole back with a birdie on the par-5 13th. Kim won the 16th and 18th holes to make the turn two up on Newell. Things heated up when Newell won the first and fourth holes to take a one hole lead with five holes remaining. Kim won the par-3 6th to bring the match to all square, both golfers teed off on the par-5 7th, and then the match was called when Baylor won the match on the 7th green.
Tampa native, senior AJ Newell, was happy to be able to finish her collegiate career in front of her family.
"It feels great. The last couple of days I played so well," said Newell. "It feels fantastic to finish in front of my family and teammates. It's nice that home is just an hour away. I'm so lucky to be able to finish my college career here so close to home."
Even though the season is over for the Lady Vols, Pavon could not be happier with the heart her team showed all season, especially at the 2015 NCAA Championship; however, she was disappointed with today's outcome.
"We had a great season this year, more than we could have ever expected," said Pavon. "Today was a little disappointing. I wish we would've been able to beat Baylor out there, but they played great. Our girls did a great job today. They just ran into a good, solid team. I'm really happy with the season and really looking forward to next year."
The 2015 NCAA Championship will conclude Wednesday afternoon.
Volunteer fans can continue to keep up with the team by following @LadyVol_Golf on Twitter.
