FORT MYERS, Fla. – Redshirt sophomore Haley Yerxa (Ottawa, Ontario/Hillcrest) shot 76 and junior Sophia Warren (Lakewood Ranch, Fla./Seminole State College) posted a 77 to lead the FGCU women's golf team in its season-opener against Michigan. The Wolverines won the one-round dual match held at The Club at Renaissance (Par 72, 6162 yards) posting a 289 team score with the Eagles tallying an overall score of 310.
 
"It felt so good to be back out competing for the first time in 10 months and we are so thankful this opportunity worked out," said head coach Sarah Trew. "After today, we know we need to step it up in the next couple weeks in order to be ready for our first tournament. This was a great opportunity to shake the rust off and see what we need to work on. We are looking forward to returning to tournament play in the coming weeks."
 
The two teams decided to use a six player format with three players as independents.
 
Among FGCU's top-six, junior Laura Edmonds (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Cypress Bay) shot 78 and sophomore Sarah Edwards (Jay, Fla./Jay) fired a 79. Senior Sadie Chlapowski (St. Petersburg, Fla./Boca Ciega/Daytona State) also shot 79 as one of the three independents.
 
"Unfortunately, we did not play very well overall. Renaissance was in great shape, but the greens were pretty firm so you had to adjust hitting approach shots and chips around the green," said Trew. "We didn't do that until the back nine and give Michigan credit for adapting right away."
 
Hailey Borja led Michigan with a match-best 69, while Ashley Lau and Monet Chun each shot 73 for the day.
 
The match-up, which was an addition to the 2021 schedule with the Wolverines spending time in Southwest Florida, marked the first intercollegiate contest for FGCU since the 2020 season came to an abrupt stop last march due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The Eagles will begin tournament play in three weeks when they head to Lakewood Ranch, Fla., to take part in the Mid-American Challenge hosted by Bowling Green State University on Feb. 8-9.
 
Top-10 Individual Scores:
1 - Hailey Borja – Michigan – 69
T2 – Ashley Lau - Michigan –73
T2 – Monet Chun - Michigan –73
4 – Mikaela Schulz - Michigan –74
T5 – Ashley Kim - Michigan –76
T5 – Haley Yerxa – FGCU –76
7 – Sophia Warren – FGCU –77
8 – Laura Edmonds – FGCU – 78
T9 – Sarah Edwards – FGCU –79
T9 – Sadie Chlapowski  – FGCU –79
 
For complete coverage of the women's golf program, follow the Eagles on Twitter and Instagram at @FGCU_WGOLF, on Facebook at /fgcuwgolf and online at www.FGCUathletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU women's golf or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
 
 
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COACH TREW
Since taking over the program in 2011, Sarah Trew has guided the Eagles to 42 top-five finishes, including 30 over the past five seasons. On top of that, she led the program to a pair of second-place finishes in the ASUN Championship in 2016, 2017, and 2019, signifying the best finishes in program history. She was named the ASUN Coach of the Year in 2015-16 and has guided FGCU to some of its best statistical seasons in program history

 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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 raise awareness.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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