Sept. 21, 2015 MADISON, Wisc. - Junior Paige Lee and senior Andrea Wong captured individual wins but UC Davis fell to Penn State, 3-2, during the semifinal round of the East-West Match Classic at Wisconsin's University Ridge Golf Course Monday.
Lee, the Aggies' top seed after finishing in a tie for fourth in Monday's stroke play, defeated Halley Morell, 4 and 3. Wong, the individual medalist at the 2014 edition of the East-West tourney, topped Jackie Rogowicz by a similar score.
Lee took the lead immediately by winning the 10th and 11th, with only Morell's birdie on the 17th closing the gap. Wong and Rogowicz traded holes to start the 10th and 11th before Wong birded the 12th and 13th to take the lead for good.
Oddly, four of the five Aggie-Nittany Lion matches were settled with three holes remaining. While Lee and Wong won, 4 and 3, freshman Daniela Anastasi and senior Betty Chen lost to PSU's Lauren Waller and Grace Chung, respectively, by that same margin.
UC Davis freshman Sam Hutchison and Penn State senior Grace Chung went the distance in their matchup. Hutchison birded the 16th then made par on the 18th to take a two-hole lead. Chung followed by taking the first three holes of the front nine to go up by one. Hutchison birdied the fourth to go all-square, then the two players halved the fifth, sixth and seventh before Chung' took the eighth to put PSU back on top. Each player made par on the ninth, giving Chung the match victory.
The East-West Match Classic, which carries an identical format to the NCAA Finals, continues on Tuesday with the finals of match play. UC Davis will take on Wisconsin for the fifth-place match.
2015 EAST-WEST MATCH CLASSIC
Madison, Wisc. (hosted by University of Wisconsin)
University Ridge Golf Course
Par 72 • 6,219 yards
TEAMS
Colorado 3, Indiana 2
Oregon 4, Michigan 1
Penn State 3, UC Davis 2
SMU 3, Wisconsin 2
INDIVIDUALS
UC Davis only.
Ariana Coyle Diaz (PSU) def. Betty Chen (UC Davis), 4 and 3
Lauren Waller (PSU) def. Daniela Anastasi (UC Davis), 4 and 3
Grace Chung (PSU) def. Sam Hutchison (UC Davis), 1 up
Paige Lee (UC Davis) def. Halley Morell (PSU), 4 and 3
Andrea Wong (UC Davis) def. Jackie Rogowicz (PSU), 4 and 3