LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. – After a two-week break, the FGCU women's golf team will be back at it on Monday, as they tee off at the Mid-American Match Play Challenge hosted by Bowling Green. The 72-hole tournament will be hosted at the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club, King's Dunes course, in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
 
The four-round event will take place over two days. The Eagles will tee off beginning at 8:25 a.m. Monday, Feb. 13 and will continue action Monday afternoon and Tuesday, Feb. 14.
 
The Eagles played Lakewood Ranch in October at the Pat Bradley Invitational and have participated in events there on a yearly basis under head coach Sarah Trew. The team carded scores of 304, 303 and 301 in the fall event to finish 10th at the long-standing event.
 
In the match play format, the team will be paired against Fort Wayne the first round. With a win, the Eagles would move on to face Eastern Michigan on Monday afternoon, while a loss would pit the Green and Blue against either Oakland or Central Michigan. The tournament features a semifinal and final round on Tuesday with a winner crowned through the bracket style format.
 
The Eagles enter the tournament with the fifth-seed, based on the fall's GolfStat rankings. Lamar holds the top seed with Western Michigan, Akron and Eastern Michigan also holding first-round byes with the top-four seeds. The event features a 12-team field that also includes Northern Illinois, Oakland, Ohio, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Dayton and Fort Wayne.
 
"We are excited to return to the Match Play Challenge this year, said head coach Sarah Trew, "Over the last couple of weeks we have been we have been working hard on honing our game and developing our strategy for this format. This team is very familiar with match play. That, paired with our previous experience with the course can lead to success out here. Our games are sharp and we're ready to start play!"
 
Trew will bring a lineup featuring a mix of veteran leadership and new talent.
 
Lone senior Megan Blonien (Altus, Okla./Altus HS) will hold the #1 position in the lineup, followed by freshman Kate Williamson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Archbishop McCarthy HS) and sophomore Madeline Marck-Sherk (Ridgeway, Ontario/Ridgeway Crystal Beach HS) who will fill the second and third spots. Sophomore Kelsy Holbert (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner HS) and freshman Ailsa Clark (Navarre, Fla./Navarre HS) round out the five-person squad that will go head-to-head with Fort Wayne tomorrow morning.
 
Live scoring for the Mid-American Match Play Challenge will be available through GolfStat.com. Complete results will be posted on FGCUAthletics.com daily.
 
COMPLETE FIELD (Golfstat ranking)
1. Lamar (88)
2. Western Michigan (131)
3. Akron (134)
4. Eastern Michigan (136)
5. FGCU (143)
6. Northern Illinois (155)
7. Oakland (160)
8. Ohio (190)
9. Bowling Green (211)
10. Central Michigan (228)
11. Dayton (238)
12. Fort Wayne (241)
 
COACH TREW
Head coach Sarah Trew recently is currently in her 6th season at the helm of the FGCU women's golf team after being named Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year in 2016. Trew took over in 2011 and has since guided the Eagles to the program's best-ever finish in the ASUN Tournament and to 20+ top-10 finishes. A year ago, Trew led the team to several records on and off the course. The 2013-14 squad set a new single-season scoring record with a team average of 307.88, while also setting a new benchmark academically. The spring of 2015 saw the Eagles again take third place at the A-Sun Championship, and recording their best team score of the season while 2016 again set a new standard. The 2015-16 squad recorded a new program best with a 305.29 average and took a second-place finish at the conference tournament. In that event, the Eagles carded a team score of 290 to set the program's new record and earned the top finish in program history.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-the minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the FGCU women's golf program, follow on Twitter at @FGCU_WGolf and on Facebook at /FGCUWGolf.