March 8, 2005

SALINAS, Calif. - Led by the Elena Kurokawa's four-under par opening-round 67, the UNLV women's golf sits in fourth place after 36 holes Tuesday at the Spartan Invitational with a team score of 586 (292-294) at the Corral de Tierra Country Club.

Kurokawa, the current Mountain West Conference golfer of the month, followed her opening round with a two-over 73 for a two-round total of 140 (-2) and is currently in second place entering Wednesday's final round.

UNLV ended Tuesday's opening round in first place with a team score of 292, one stroke ahead of No. 5 Washington. The Rebels then carded a 294 on their second 18 holes of the day and are currently fourth, seven strokes behind tournament leader No. 6 UCLA. The Bruins shot rounds of 298 and 281 for a total of 579, good for a one stroke lead over the Huskies (293-287-580).

Sofie Andersson of California leads the chase for medalist honors after two rounds, shooting a three-under 68 and a four-under 67 Tuesday for a total of 135 (-7), five strokes ahead of Kurokawa. UCLA's Charlotte Mayorkas, last year's medalist at the invitational, is in a group of three tied for third with a two-round total of 142 (E).

All five of UNLV's golfers are in the top-40 entering Wednesday's final round with Kurokawa and sophomore Seema Sadekar in the top 10.

Sadekar opened play Tuesday with a four-over 75 before finishing the day with an even-par 71 to move her into a five-way tie for 10th with a 146 (+4). Hwanhee Lee and Young Pak are in a group that is tied for 23rd after the duo both carded 75s in each round to finish with a two-round total of 150 (+8). Christine Hentzner rounded out the Rebels' scores with a 153 (78-75, +11) and is in 37th place.

Wednesday's final round tees off at 8:00 a.m. (PST) with golfers teeing off the 1st and 10th holes every nine minutes on the par-71, 5,826-yard course.

Full results may be found by clicking here.