LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. - The top-seeded FGCU women's golf team came from behind to defeat No. 4 Akron 3-1-1 in the semifinals, but lost a tiebreaker to No. 3 Bowling Green to finish runner-up in the Mid-American Match Play Challenge at Lakewood Ranch Country Club on Tuesday.

"We are obviously disappointed with our result today," FGCU head coach Sarah Trew said. "In our morning match, we were down and fought our way back. I loved how we gutted it out and came away with the win. In the afternoon, it just caught up to us. We were down most of the day, but were able to come back and force a playoff. Unfortunately, we made some mistakes and Bowling Green was able to get the best of us. Hats off to them because they played so tough and wouldn't let up. We know we need to work on short game and putting for the next couple weeks in order to be ready for Amelia Island."

The Eagles finished regulation tied 2-2-1 against BGSU with victories from Ailsa Clark and Laura Edmonds. In the tiebreaker, each of the five pairs competed in a sudden-death round. The first four pairs tied, but the Falcons won the No. 1 pairing to claim the victory.

In the semifinals, Madeline Marck-Sherk was down one through 11, but won the 12th and claimed a win after taking the 17th. Edmonds (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Cypress Bay HS) won three of her final five holes just to finish all square. Clark (Navarre, Fla./Navarre HS) and Kelsy Holbert cruised to victories.

Against BGSU, Natalia Nassar (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Colegio Panamericano) lost a heartbreaking 18th hole to lose by one. Marck-Sherk (Ridgeway, Ontario/Ridgeway Crystal Beach HS) won the 17th to help even up her match, while Edmonds won the 11th and 15th holes to claim her victory. Clark led all but two holes.

Clark led the Green and Blue in the event with a 3-0 record, while Holbert (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner HS) went 2-1 and Edmonds finished 2-0-1. Marck-Sherk went 1-0-2.

This was FGCU's second consecutive runner-up finish in the event among four straight appearances.

Semifinals
No. 1 FGCU d. No. 4 Akron 3-1-1
1. Laura Edmonds (FGCU) vs Danielle Nicholson - A/S
2. Madeline Marck-Sherk (FGCU) d. Abbie Pearce - 1up
3. Kelsy Holbert (FGCU) d. Ivana Shah - 5&4
4. Allyson Wentworth (Akron) d. Natalia Nassar - 2&1
5. Ailsa Clark (FGCU) d. Makayla Dull - 4&2
 
Championship
No. 3 Bowling Green d. No. 1 FGCU via first-hole tiebreaker (2-2-1)
1. Laura Edmonds (FGCU) d. Jessica Madry - 2&1
2. Madeline Marck-Sherk (FGCU) vs Julia Durkin - A/S
3. Erin Fahey (BGSU) d. Kelsy Holbert - 5&4
4. Sammi Blackburn (BGSU) d. Natalia Nassar - 1up
5. Ailsa Clark (FGCU) d. Nichole Cox - 2&1
 
Notes
Teams were seeded based on their most recent GolfStat rankings. 

The event was held at the Royal Lakes Golf Course at Lakewood Ranch Country Club and was hosted by Bowling Green State University.

FGCU received a first round bye and opened in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive season. This was the fourth straight year the Eagles have competed in the event, and they're now 10-4 all-time.
 
Up Next
Following the Match Play Challenge, FGCU will be back in action Feb. 18-19 in the Amelia Island Collegiate.
 
COACH TREW
Since taking over the program in 2011, Sarah Trew has guided the Eagles to 31 top-five finishes, including six in each of the past three seasons. On top of that, she led the program to a pair of second-place finishes in the ASUN Championship in 2016 and 2017, which signifies the best finishes in program history.

Over the past three years, the 2015-16 ASUN Coach of the Year has led the Green and Blue to its three best seasons in program history in stroke average, birdies, par-3 scoring, par-4 scoring and par-5 scoring. Her 2017-18 team tied the program record for low round with a 290 (+2) in the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational and also tied the record for best 36-hole total in the same event (589, +13). Her 2012-13 team holds the 54-hole record of 887 (+23) in the ASUN Championship, but her 2017-18 team holds the third-best mark with an 895 (+31) in the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational.

Trew was instrumental in FGCU's six top-five finishes in 2017-18. The highlight of the season came when the team captured first-place in the MSU Citrus Classic, signifying the program's first outright tournament championship since March 2008. She previously led the team to a share of first-place in the FGCU Eagle Invitational on Sept. 16, 2013.

The 2018 season also witnessed Natalia Nassar capture the ASUN Conference's Freshman of the Year award, which represented the program's first-ever major athletic award recipient. Also, for the first time since 2011, the team claimed three ASUN golfer of the week recipients - Kate Williamson (March 22), Madeline Marck-Sherk (March 15) and Nassar (Feb. 8) in the same season. It was also just the second time in program history the team won the award in back-to-back weeks. Overall, last year's trio represents one-third of the program's nine weekly recipients since Trew took over.
 
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 contribute, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help.