United Athletic Conference

Seattle U's Shayna Lu has been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Golfer of the Week for February 9 through February 15.

 

Lu, a freshman from Honolulu, won all three of her matchups at the Mountain Classic Match Play as the Redhawks won the team title as well. All three of her matches were runaway wins, with her closest match coming in the semifinal round in a 5&4 win over Cal State Fullerton's Kayla Hunn. As a team, the Redhawks defeated Boise State in the final, 3-2. 

 

Other nominees: Utah Valley's Bailey Henley went 2-0-1 at the Mountain Classic Match Play, tying in the first round and then picking up wins in the second and third rounds as the Wolverines won the third-place match over Wyoming.

 

Chicago State opens the spring season on Sunday, heading to Prattville, Ala. for the ASU Spring Classic. Four more schools open play on Monday with Sam Houston playing in the Tchefuncta Invitational and Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton and UT Rio Grande Valley all competiting in the Islander Classic.

 

Sam Houston's Jennifer Herbst is the leader in the WAC in stroke average at 71.6 strokes per round. Teammate Zulaikah Nasser is second at 71.9, followed by SU's Rivekka Jumagulova in third at 72.7. As a team, SHSU is also the top squad with a 291.9 stroke average. Seattle U is second at 296.0 followed by NM State in third at 296.5.

 

The WAC will be in a unique situation this season with two teams having earned automatic qualifications to NCAA Regionals in May. NM State will be the defending WAC champions, having won the 2021 Championship by seven strokes at Boulder Creek GC before earning a top-10 finish at the NCAA Albuquerque Regional. Sam Houston also earned an automatic selection after winning the Southland Conference Championship by 19 strokes over Central Arkansas. The Bearkats were unable to compete in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional after wet weather made the course unplayable. Senior Hanna Alberto still advanced to the NCAA Championship, becoming the first SHSU golfer to play at the final site.  

 

On Jan. 14, the WAC announced the addition of five new schools in the upcoming years. Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin and Southern Utah were all offered and accepted membership invitations. With the addition, the WAC now has six schools in Texas, more than any other conference in the country, and will have three schools in Utah, also a national best. The four Texas schools joined the league on July 1, 2021 and Southern Utah will follow 365 days later, officially joining the WAC on July 1, 2022.

 

Originally the site for the canceled 2020 WAC Women's Golf Championship and for the first time since 2004, the WAC Championship heads to Texas as Riverhill Country Club in Kerrville will play host to the conference tournament on April 18-20, 2022. Designed by Byron Nelson and Joe Finger, Riverhill has been host to over 40 USGA and Texas Golf Association events.