May 8, 2004

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. - For the third consecutive day, the No. 17 UNLV women's golf team shot 297 and retained its second-place position on the leaderboard at the NCAA East Regional, qualifying to advance to the NCAA Championship.

The Rebels finished the 54-hole tournament at 27-over par and finished second only to top-ranked Duke. They finished 29 strokes ahead of Oklahoma State, which claimed the eight and final qualifying berth for the NCAA Championship. Only the top eight schools and two individuals advance to the national finals, which is slated for May 18-21 in Opelika, Ala.

"I really felt in my heart we were the second best team here the way we've been playing this spring," said UNLV head coach Missy Ringler. "It feels really good to come here and get it done."

The Rebels upset four teams ranked in the top 15 en route to the runner-up finish and advance to the NCAA Championship for the first time in the program's three-year history.

Leading the way for the Rebels as she has all season was sophomore Sunny Oh. Oh tied for fifth after closing her tournament with a one-over par 73. At two-over for the tourney, she trailed medalist Meaghan Francella of North Carolina by nine strokes.

Also playing a big part in the Rebels' was sophomore Elena Kurokawa, who finished 19th overall after shooting 76 for the second straight day.

Rounding out the team scoring for UNLV were freshman Seema Sadekar, who shot 73 to leap into 23rd place, and Young Pak, who tied for 29th overall with a three-over 75 on Saturday. Hwanhee Lee, whose 81 was not figured into the team total, finished tied for 36th overall.

The Rebels will leave for Opelika, Ala. on Saturday, May 15, in order to prepare to play the par-72, 6,215-yard Grand National Lake Course.