Quinnipiac Women's Golf Picked Second In 2016 MAAC Preseason Poll
2/18/2016 10:30:00 AM | Women's Golf
EDISON, New Jersey – The Quinnipiac University women's golf team was picked to finish second in the 2016 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coaches' Preseason Poll, as announced by the conference on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. The Bobcats received one first-place vote in the preseason poll.
Albany received six first-place votes from the eight-member conference, with Dayton also receiving one first-place vote on their way to be selected to finish third. Hartford and Monmouth slotted into the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, while Siena, Fairfield and Niagara filled out the remaining spots in the poll.
Quinnipiac finished fourth at the 2015 MAAC Championship, led by all-conference showings from Nicole Scola (Westerly, Rhode Island) and Taylor Lambrou (Baldwin, New York). It was Scola's second consecutive All-MAAC selection after she guided the Bobcats to a second-place finish at the 2014 MAAC Championship, earning Rookie of the Year honors.
Scola has been the Bobcats' top golfer during her first two seasons at Quinnipiac, averaging a team-best 78.55 for her career that has featured 58 rounds across 26 tournaments through this past fall season. Scola's 2014-15 (77.79) and 2013-14 (78.95) stand as the two best single-season averages in program history while she also owns eight of the top 10 rounds in program history and the top five 36-hole scores all-time. She is also the program's all-time leader in birdies (66).
Senior captain Jennifer Whaley (Farmington, Connecticut) currently sits at 61 career birdies, good for second place in the Bobcats' all-time record book. Whaley will lead the Bobcats in her final season, which she enters with a team-high 36 tournaments played. Whaley has averaged 84.32 for her career, while her 2013-14 average (83.21) ranks fourth all-time.
Freshman Luciana Tobia (La Paz, Bolivia) was named to Golfweek.com's Midseason All-MAAC Team after an impressive fall semester in her first year of collegiate competition. Tobia will enter the spring semester with a team-best 78.77 average. She opened her collegiate career with an 8th place finish at Navy's Chesapeake Bay Invitational before finishing tied for 11th at the Quinnipiac Classic and a seventh place finish at the St. John's Invitational The high point of the first-year Bobcats season came at the DSU Hornets Invitational when she finished tied for first, before losing in a play-off, to lead Quinnipiac to the tournament victory. In addition, she also tied the program single-round record with a 70 at the Dartmouth Invitational.
Head coach John O'Connor will look to steady play from junior Emily Ribbins (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) who enters her third spring season with a 83.66 career average. Ribbins has shown improved play in each of her four semesters at Quinnipiac, with her score improving from season to season. In 2014-15, Ribbins played in 12 tournaments, averaging an 83.11.
O'Connor will also rely on freshmen Julia Kemmling (Berlin, Connecticut) and Caitlyn Blydenburgh (Castleton, New York), who both exhibited brilliant play during the fall semester. Kemmling enters the spring averaging 80.29 per 18 holes, good for third in the Bobcats' line-up. She currently leads Quinnipiac with the best last-round average (79.00) among the Bobcat golfers, as well as Par 5 Scoring (5.20). Kemmling also posted a team-best 26 birdies in 12 rounds in the fall and was second to Tobia in Fairways Hit (74.1%). The Connecticut native converted on 22.1% of birdies, good for 86th out of 532 NCAA Division I golfers and the tops on the Quinnipiac roster. Blydenburgh averaged an 83.17 per 18 holes during the fall semester that saw the first-year Bobcat attack 12 rounds.
The most notable "addition" to Quinnipiac's line-up will be sophomore Estefania Morales (Caracas, Venezuela). Morales had a brilliant freshman campaign in 2014-15, posting the second-best freshman scoring average (83.96) in program history. She also became the first Quinnipiac golfer to rank among the national leaders, placing sixth among all NCAA Division I student-athletes with a .887 Fairways Hit percentage. Morales also posted the seventh-best single-season scoring average in program history, and the second-best freshman average in program history.
Quinnipiac begins play for the Spring 2016 season on Mar. 14-15 when it competes against Winthrop and Bethune-Cookman at the Lady Eaglecat Invitational.
Albany received six first-place votes from the eight-member conference, with Dayton also receiving one first-place vote on their way to be selected to finish third. Hartford and Monmouth slotted into the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, while Siena, Fairfield and Niagara filled out the remaining spots in the poll.
Quinnipiac finished fourth at the 2015 MAAC Championship, led by all-conference showings from Nicole Scola (Westerly, Rhode Island) and Taylor Lambrou (Baldwin, New York). It was Scola's second consecutive All-MAAC selection after she guided the Bobcats to a second-place finish at the 2014 MAAC Championship, earning Rookie of the Year honors.
Scola has been the Bobcats' top golfer during her first two seasons at Quinnipiac, averaging a team-best 78.55 for her career that has featured 58 rounds across 26 tournaments through this past fall season. Scola's 2014-15 (77.79) and 2013-14 (78.95) stand as the two best single-season averages in program history while she also owns eight of the top 10 rounds in program history and the top five 36-hole scores all-time. She is also the program's all-time leader in birdies (66).
Senior captain Jennifer Whaley (Farmington, Connecticut) currently sits at 61 career birdies, good for second place in the Bobcats' all-time record book. Whaley will lead the Bobcats in her final season, which she enters with a team-high 36 tournaments played. Whaley has averaged 84.32 for her career, while her 2013-14 average (83.21) ranks fourth all-time.
Freshman Luciana Tobia (La Paz, Bolivia) was named to Golfweek.com's Midseason All-MAAC Team after an impressive fall semester in her first year of collegiate competition. Tobia will enter the spring semester with a team-best 78.77 average. She opened her collegiate career with an 8th place finish at Navy's Chesapeake Bay Invitational before finishing tied for 11th at the Quinnipiac Classic and a seventh place finish at the St. John's Invitational The high point of the first-year Bobcats season came at the DSU Hornets Invitational when she finished tied for first, before losing in a play-off, to lead Quinnipiac to the tournament victory. In addition, she also tied the program single-round record with a 70 at the Dartmouth Invitational.
Head coach John O'Connor will look to steady play from junior Emily Ribbins (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) who enters her third spring season with a 83.66 career average. Ribbins has shown improved play in each of her four semesters at Quinnipiac, with her score improving from season to season. In 2014-15, Ribbins played in 12 tournaments, averaging an 83.11.
O'Connor will also rely on freshmen Julia Kemmling (Berlin, Connecticut) and Caitlyn Blydenburgh (Castleton, New York), who both exhibited brilliant play during the fall semester. Kemmling enters the spring averaging 80.29 per 18 holes, good for third in the Bobcats' line-up. She currently leads Quinnipiac with the best last-round average (79.00) among the Bobcat golfers, as well as Par 5 Scoring (5.20). Kemmling also posted a team-best 26 birdies in 12 rounds in the fall and was second to Tobia in Fairways Hit (74.1%). The Connecticut native converted on 22.1% of birdies, good for 86th out of 532 NCAA Division I golfers and the tops on the Quinnipiac roster. Blydenburgh averaged an 83.17 per 18 holes during the fall semester that saw the first-year Bobcat attack 12 rounds.
The most notable "addition" to Quinnipiac's line-up will be sophomore Estefania Morales (Caracas, Venezuela). Morales had a brilliant freshman campaign in 2014-15, posting the second-best freshman scoring average (83.96) in program history. She also became the first Quinnipiac golfer to rank among the national leaders, placing sixth among all NCAA Division I student-athletes with a .887 Fairways Hit percentage. Morales also posted the seventh-best single-season scoring average in program history, and the second-best freshman average in program history.
Quinnipiac begins play for the Spring 2016 season on Mar. 14-15 when it competes against Winthrop and Bethune-Cookman at the Lady Eaglecat Invitational.
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