Whiston Paces Lady Vols during Second Round at NCAA Championships

Sunday, May 19

Fayetteville, AR

All Day

University of Tennessee

NCAA Championship

Photo by: Caleb Jones/Tennessee Athletics

Whiston Paces Lady Vols during Second Round at NCAA Championships

May 19, 2019 | Women's Golf

By: Zach Stipe

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Sophomore Waverly Whiston fired five birdies and carded a 75 (+2) to lead the Tennessee women's golf team on Sunday during the second round of the NCAA Women's Golf Championships at Blessings Golf Club.

The Lady Vols improved by 17 strokes and fired a 19-over 311 round-two score on the challenging par-73, 6,397-yard course.

UT remains in 24th-place with the final round of stroke play set for Monday. The top eight teams at the conclusion of 54 holes will move on to the match play portion of the national championships.

Tennessee will tee off the third round at 8 a.m. ET.

Play was suspended on Saturday before the Lady Vols even started and the second round was completed on Sunday.

Starting on the back nine, sophomore Mariah Smith made back-to-back birdies to kickoff the day. Whiston also played the first two holes, Nos. 10 and 11, at 2-under-par.

Whiston finished with the lowest score (+2) by a Lady Vol of the tournament through two rounds. She is 9-over for the weekend and sits in a tie for 57th.

The San Diego, Calif., native was 1-under through 13 holes, but had a triple bogey on No. 5. After a bogey on No. 6, she rebounded with a birdie on No. 8 to close out the round at +2.

Her eight birdies through two days are tied for the ninth-most in the field.

Junior Micheala Williams finished with a 77 (+4) on Sunday, making a two stroke improvement. She is +10 overall for the tournament and tied for 66th.

Smith improved her score by 11 strokes and finished with a 78 (+5) on the day after carding birdies on the first two holes. She is in a tie for 125th-place at +21 overall.

Senior Mikayla Bardwell was +8 on the day and she sits in a tie for 122nd overall, while Ariana Macioce finished +11 for round two, and heads into the final round of stroke play in a tie for 127th.

Tennessee is competing in its 14th NCAA Women's Golf Championship overall and making its 12th appearance under head coach Judi Pavon.

Duke (+2) leads the tournament after two rounds with Southern California (+11) and Texas (+12) rounding out the top three.

Coach's Take
On Tennessee's second round at the NCAA Championships:
"We had a lot of good things happen out there today, but – again – we just undid a lot of the good by allowing too many bad things to happen." – Head Coach Judi Pavon

On Waverly Whiston's play during the second round:
"Waverly played really solid today, but hit a bad iron on hole five that put her in a terrible spot, and led to her triple. Other than that she had such a good round, and it was a shame to see her make that mistake." – Head Coach Judi Pavon

Round Two Scores:
Team
1. Duke +2 (586)
2. Southern California +11 (595)
3. Texas +12 (596)
T4. Arizona +14 (598)
T4. Arkansas +14 (598)
6. Stanford +20 (604)
7. Purdue +22 (606)
8. Northwestern +23 (607)
T9. Auburn +24 (608)
T9. Wake Forest +24 (608)
11. Ole Miss +27 (611)
12. Arizona State +28 (612)
13. Florida +31 (615)
14. Illinois +32 (616)
15. Florida State +35 (619)
16. Virginia +37 (621)
17. Washington +38 (622)
18. UCLA +39 (623)
19. San Jose State +42 (626)
20. UCF +45 (629)
21. Kent State +49 (633)
T22. Vanderbilt +51 (635)
T22. Indiana +51 (635)
24. Tennessee +55 (639)

Tennessee Team
Waverly Whiston      T57     155 (+9)
Micheala Williams     T66     156 (+10)
Mikayla Bardwell      T122   166 (+20)
Mariah Smith           T125   167 (+21)
Ariana Macioce         T127   168 (+22)