BOULDER CITY, NV (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV women's golf team turned in a strong second round among windy contitions at The Clash at Boulder Creek Monday, carding the only under par team round of the day at 1-under 287 to move from sixth to first at 8-over 584 overall. The Rebels have a five-shot lead over second-place UC Riverside (+13) heading into Tuesday's final round at Boulder Creek Golf Club.
Senior
Veronica Joels, a Las Vegas native, started the day in a tie for fourth at 2-under and matched her career single-round low of 3-under 69 to move atop the leaderboard at 5-under through 36 holes. Joels sank five birdies against two bogeys Tuesday, marking the fourth time during her Rebel career she's shot a 69 in a single round. Joels' 3-under 69 was also the only individual round under 70 on the day.
Freshman
Hina Matsui is the next highest Rebel on the leaderboard, tied for 13th at 4-over, followed by sophomore
Madeleine Laux and freshman
McKenzi Hall - both playing as individuals - in a tie for 21st at 5-over. Freshman
Kendall Todd checks in one shot behind them at 6-over and in a tie for 25th, while junior
Nicole Lorup and freshman
Sydney Bryan are tied for 33rd at 7-over. Junior
Aliyah Williams and sophomore
Gracie Olkowski, both competing as individuals, sit at tied for 78th and tied for 90th at 15-over and 18-over, respectively.
If the Rebels can hold onto the top spot in Tuesday's final round, it will mark the first time in program history UNLV will have won two tournaments during the fall portion of the season. Behind UNLV and UC Riverside is San Francisco in third at 18-over, Grand Canyon in fourth at 22-over and Utah Valley in fifth at 23-over.
Joels will be eyeing her first collegiate victory Tuesday, holding a one-shot lead over Utah Valley's Victoria Estrada, who is in second at 4-under, followed by UVU's Leighton Shosted in third at 1-over and UC Riverside's Tiffany Le in fourth at 2-over.
UP NEXT: Tuesday's final round tees off with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. PT.
NOTES:
• The Rebels won the 2021 Dale McNamara Invitational Oct 11-12 in Tulsa, Oklahoma by 11 strokes, marking first tournament win since 2019 (Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown); Three Rebels finished in the top six with freshman
Sydney Bryan winning her first collegiate tournament at 4-under 212
• UNLV finished at 3-under at the Jim West Invitational, marking the first time the Rebels finished under par in back-to-back tournaments since the spring of 2017
• UNLV has six returners from last year's squad and welcomed six newcomers to squad this fall, including five freshmen
•
Marissa Uradomo, a four-time MVC All-Conference golfer at Indiana State, joined Bush-Herzer's staff as an assistant coach in September of 2021
• Head coach
Amy Bush-Herzer is in her 11th year at the helm of the program. She has led her team to a conference championship four times.