University of Richmond
CAA Championship
Women's Golf Notches Program-Best Fifth Top-5 Finish Taking Fourth At CAA Championship
04/19/2009 | Women's Golf
April 19, 2009
PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - Sophomore Jillian Fraccola tied for fifth and sophomore Christina Gray tied for ninth as the Richmond women's golf team finished fourth out of 10 teams at the 2009 CAA Championship, completed Sunday at Callaway Gardens' Lake View course.
The Spiders shot a 309 in Sunday's final round, after shooting a 310 and 306 in the first two rounds to finish the tournament at 925 and post a program-best fifth top-5 finish in the 2008-09 season.
"We had a very consistent showing all three days," Fraccola said. "We shot around the same score each day and that was the key to finishing in the top-4. We're happy about that, it's better than last year's finish. We controlled the controllables, we didn't let things get to us, we bounced back from the bad things that happened. That's all we could do, we couldn't control what other teams shots, we just worried about us."
Georgia State, the No. 32 ranked team in the nation according to Golfstat.com, used a tournament low round of 290 to overtake UNC-Wilmington for the team title by one shot. Georgia State finished at 890, UNCW was second at 891 and James Madison took third at 905.
"I'm really proud of them, they really fought, at no point in time did I see them give up on themselves," Richmond head coach Leighann Albaugh said. "They played with a lot of heart."
Fraccola posted a career-best fifth-place finish at 15-over-par 225 after carding a 3-over 73 in the final round Sunday. Fraccola had shot a 77 and 75 in the first two rounds as she earned CAA All-Championship honors.
"I hadn't been hitting the ball well, but I hit it pretty well today and I putted alright," Fraccola said. "I had a couple of birdie and par putts that were inside of 10 feet that I didn't make, but I was happy with the way I played."
Gray tied for ninth for her fourth top-10 finish of the season at 226 shot a 7-over 77 in the third around after shooting a 76 in the first round and 3-over 73 in the second.
"After the practice round, I noticed the course was set up nicely for me personally, a few par 4s were set up shorter, so I knew if I could strike the ball well and putt well I would be fine," Gray said. "The biggest thing was just all of us playing well at the same time. We were pretty confident coming in and we were really encouraging each other and supporting each other all weekend."
Junior Lauren Folgosa tied for 22nd at 236 following a pair of 78s with an 80 on Sunday.
"Today we really did beat the back nine," said Folgosa, who shot 3-over on the back nine Sunday after going a combined 13-over on the back nine in the first two rounds. "It really kicked our butts the first two days, but we all finished strong today, which we needed to do to stay in fourth."
Junior Victoria Kidder tied for 24th at 238 shooting after rounds of 79, 80 and 79. Junior Anne Sprick tied for 39th at 251 (85-82-84).
The Spiders return all five players who competed in the CAA Championship, which will give them a tournament tested squad in 2009-10.
"We really maintained our composure this weekend," Folgosa said. "Playing with the top two teams yesterday (Georgia State and UNCW) we really held our own. I think that says something."
