LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. - The FGCU women's golf team will open its spring season in the Mid-American Match Play Challenge on Monday. The two-day event is hosted at Lakewood Ranch Country Club's Royal Lakes Golf Course by Bowling Green State University.

The tournament seeded all 12 teams based upon GolfStat rankings, and the Eagles will open the tournament as the No. 2 seed. That will give them a first round bye, and FGCU will first play Monday afternoon at approximately 12 p.m. in a quarterfinal against the winner of No. 7 Ohio University and No. 10 University of Dayton. The semifinals and finals will take place on Tuesday.

"We are eager to get back on the road and play an event," FGCU head coach Sarah Trew said. "I think the team was able to get some good rest over the break and recharge their batteries. We have been practicing for about a month now and everyone has brought some great intensity to the table. This tournament is one we have circled on our calendars every year, as it is a match play event and the team really enjoys the format. We had some competitive rounds of qualifying over the last month, and we will see a shakeup in our lineup from the fall. It's been fun to see so many folks playing well and working hard. We are ready to see who we face Monday afternoon and kickoff our season."

The Eagles will roll out the following lineup on Monday:

1. Madeline Marck-Sherk (Ridgeway, Ontario/Ridgeway Crystal Beach HS)
2. Natalia Nassar (Floridablanca, Colombia)
3. Madison Easterbrook (Burlington, Ontario/Aldershot HS)
4. Kelsy Holbert (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner HS)
5. Ashley Kimbrough (Clearwater, Fla./Indian Rocks Christian School)

As Trew mentioned, the lineup will see a noticeable difference from the fall season. To start, Kimbrough earned a spot in the lineup after appearing in one of three fall events as an individual. Marck-Sherk earned the No. 1 spot after not appearing higher than third in any fall lineup. She finished with a team-low 75.22 average over nine fall rounds and recorded the team's lone top 10 individual finish in the USF Intercollegiate (T-9th). Easterbrook is third after appearing once as an individual in the fall. Nassar was the team's second best performer in the fall season with a 75.89 average, and she will be ranked in the top two for the fourth straight time to open her collegiate career. Holbert will open in the fourth spot after averaging 78.00 over all nine rounds in the fall.

COMPLETE FIELD
22 - Kent State University
125 - FGCU
140 - Northern Illinois University
157 - University of Akron
165 - Western Michigan University
177 - BGSU
189 - Ohio University
194 - UNC Asheville
205 - Eastern Michigan University
216 - University of Dayton
223 - Central Michigan University
237 - Fort Wayne

FOLLOW LIVE
You can follow the Mid-American Match Play Challenge live here.

EVENT HISTORY
FGCU finished third of 12 in last year's Mid-American Match Play Challenge by defeating Oakland University in the consolation round after falling in the semifinals. They also won three of four head-to-head matchups in the spring of 2016 to finish in fifth place.

NEXT UP
Following this week, FGCU will be back in action Feb. 19-20 in the Amelia Island College hosted by Jacksonville University. It will be the second of six events for the Eagles this spring prior to the ASUN Championship April 22-24.

COACH TREW
Head coach Sarah Trew is in her 7th season at the helm of the FGCU women's golf team. She took over in 2011 and has since guided the Eagles to the program's best-ever finish in the ASUN Tournament and 24 top-5 finishes. 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 ASUN Championship, and recording their best team score of the season while 2016 again set a new standard. In 2015-16, Trew earned her first ASUN Coach of the Year title after the squad recorded a new program best with a 305.29 average and took second-place at the conference tournament – the program's best finish in the event. In the second round of that tournament, the Eagles carded a team score of 290 to set a low-round program record. The 2016-17 Eagles repeated that success with another second-place finish in the ASUN Championship and for the third time since Trew took over, set a new record with a 302.30 stroke average on the season.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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.

SUPPORT THE CAUSE 
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help.