April 14, 2010
LAS VEGAS - The UNLV women's golf team will begin play Thursday at the 2010 Mountain West Conference Championship, which will be held at Black Horse Golf Course in Seaside, Calif.
The tournament will span three days and teams will play 18 holes each day on the par-72, 6,009-yard course, and the Rebels will be joined in the field by fellow conference members BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU and Wyoming.
UNLV is looking for its fourth league tournament title and first since winning the final of three straight trophies in 2006, and Missy Ringler will field a lineup this is playing some of its best golf heading into the postseason. The Rebels won the 2010 UNLV Spring Invitational (March 8-10) and then finished third at the MountainView Collegiate (March 26-27). Leading the way is Therese Koelbaek, who took home medalist honors at the UNLV Spring Invitational and was named the MWC's Golfer of the Month for March.
Koelbaek will be joined in the UNLV lineup by Kristen Schelling, Natasha Krishna, Alejandra Guacaneme and Mandi Incorvaia. It is an experienced group, as the only member of the lineup who has not played in the league event is Incorvaia, and she is a junior who transferred to UNLV last summer from Southern Utah.
"We are looking forward to the championship," Ringler said. "I really feel like we have a great shot at winning if we play well and to our ability. The team is extremely focused and has been playing great."
Koelbaek is second in the league with a 73.23 scoring average and the junior has recorded four top-10 finishes, while her tournament title at the UNLV Spring Invitational was the third of her career, which is tied for the most in UNLV history. Krishna will be playing in her fourth consecutive MWC Championship, and she has finished in the top 10 twice in her three previous league tournaments.
The first pairings tee off tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. (PT), and UNLV is part of the third group that will hit the course at about 9:40 a.m., along with BYU and TCU. Colorado State and Wyoming will tee off first, followed by New Mexico and San Diego State and then the Rebels in group three.
New Mexico won last year's team title, marking the second consecutive championship and sixth overall for the Lobos in the 10-year history of the tournament. UNLV and UNM are the only two programs to win more than one championship, and TCU is the only other program that has even won one tournament, and that was in 2007.
Fans can get live results of the 2010 MWC Championship by CLICKING HERE.
