Women's golf earns No. 1 seed to NCAA Central Regional
The Arizona State women's golf team has been selected as a No. 1 seed for the 2010 NCAA Central Regional. Hosted by Indiana University, Bloomington, the Central Regional will be played May 6-8 at the Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus, Ind. The regional tournaments are conducted as the preliminary round for the NCAA Championships, held in Wilmington, N.C. From each regional, eight teams and two individuals will advance to the championship. With 18 consecutive trips to the NCAA Championships, the Sun Devils currently own the nation's longest current streak.
"We're ready to go win!" said eighth year head coach Melissa Luellen. "We're ready to play great and finish what we started at the Pac-10 Championships."
USC (No. 2 seed) and No. 11 Oregon are the lone Pac-10 squads to accompany the Sun Devils in Columbus. The Sun Devils will also compete against No. 3 Purdue, No. 4 Michigan State, No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Denver, No. 7 New Mexico, No. 8 Florida State, No. Oklahoma State, No. 10 Louisville, No. 12 Kent State, No. 13 Northwestern, No. 14 Notre Dame, No. 15 Mississippi, No. 16 San Diego State, No. 17 Baylor, No. 18 Tulsa, No. 19 North Carolina State, No. 20 Indiana, No. 21 Illinois State, No. 22 Murray State, No. 23 Detroit and No. 24 Jackson State, along with individuals Ashley Bauer of Michigan, Lansing Olivia of Drake and Julia Potter of Missouri.
UCLA, West Region, and Duke, East Region, also earned No. 1 seeds.
The Sun Devils have had three tournament wins this season and have finished in the top five in every tournament this season. They have won the TOPY Cup, the Stanford Intercollegiate and the Wildcat Invitational.
Recently, Carlota Ciganda became the Pac-10's first back-to-back conference medalist after defeating teammate Juliana Murcia in a playoff. The Sun Devils are eager to play after being forced to withdraw from the Pac-10 Championship due to a severe illness to two of its players.
Last season, the Sun Devils took first at the NCAA West Regional held at the ASU Karsten Golf Course. Ciganda won the event.