MELBOURNE, Fla. -- The Old Dominion women's golf team posted its best finish thus far of the 2017-18 season, finishing as the runner-ups at the Moon Golf Invitational this week at Duran Golf Club.
"We were slated to finish eighth in this tournament and finished second," said head coach Mallory Hetzel. "I think that says a lot about our team and their abilities. It's nice to see our name near the top of the leaderboard and play in the final group today."
Old Dominion (+16) finished 17 shots back of ninth-ranked Furman (-1). The Monarchs finished well ahead of a pair of top-40 squads in No. 26 Louisville and No. 36 Kennesaw State. As a team, ODU had 43 birdies during the 54-hole event, which was tied for the most in the field. 12 of those birdies came from Maggie Simmermacher (+3), who tied for 10th overall.
In addition to Simmermacher, Katerina Vlasinova (+5) had an up-and-down final 18, but still notched a top-20 finish, tying for 18th. Abigail Portyrata (+7), Charlotte De Corte (+9) and Sana Tufail (+10) also finished in the top half of the 74-player field. Portyrata tied for 22nd, De Corte tied for 28th and Tufail tied for 33rd.
Rounding out the Monarch lineup was Noemie Sudron (+21, 62nd).
"It was a complete team effort and I think it won't be long until we find our way into the winner's circle," said Hetzel.
Up next, ODU heads to the North Florida Collegiate March 5-6.
TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. #9 Furman (-1)
2. Old Dominion (+16)
3t. Virginia Tech (+17)
3t. Chattanooga (+17)
5t. Augusta (+18)
5t. Memphis (+18)
7. #26 Louisville (+24)
8. Maryland (+29)
9. #36 Kennesaw State (+33)
10. Michigan (+46)
11. Southern Miss (+56)
12. USF (+63)
13. Rutgers (+71)
ODU PLAYER LEADERBOARD
10t. Maggie Simmermacher (+3)
18t. Katerina Vlasinova (+5)
22t. Abigail Portyrata (+7)
28t. Charlotte De Corte (+9)
33t. Sana Tufail (+10)
62t. Noemie Sudron (+21)