QU Women's Golf Repeats As MAAC Champions

Sunday, April 23

Magnolia GC//Lake Buena Vista, Florida

10:00 AM

Quinnipiac University

MAAC Championship

4/23/2017 4:01:00 PM | Women's Golf

MAAC Player Final Leaderboard MAAC Team Final Leaderboard Photo Gallery: MAAC Championship Final Round

Alexandra Sazhin earns Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors

By: QU Sports Information

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – The Quinnipiac University women's golf team won its second-consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship at Disney's Magnolia Golf Course. The Bobcats become the first team since Siena in 2010 and 2011 to repeat as conference champions.

For the second-straight year, Quinnipiac was led by a freshman as first-year Bobcat Alexandra Sazhin (New Fairfield, Connecticut) won the McLeod Trophy given to the first-place finisher as the 2017 MAAC Player of the Year while she also won the Rookie of the Year award after posting the top score for a freshman. Luciana Tobia-Palza (La Paz, Bolivia) accomplished the feat last season, and Nicole Scola (Westerly, Rhode Island) also won the 2014 Rookie of the Year award. Head coach John O'Connor won his second consecutive Coach of the Year award.

In addition to Sazhin, Tobia-Palza, Julia Kemmling (Berlin, Connecticut) and Estefania Morales (Caracas, Venezuala) all finished in the top 10, with Tobia-Palza and Kemmling doing so for the second-straight year. Tobia-Palza finished tied for fifth while Kemmling tied for seventh and Morales finished ninth.

Quinnipiac finished the tournament with a 312 on the final round to total 939 ( 75) for the three-round tournament. Quinnipiac led Albany ( 81) by six strokes, followed by Monmouth ( 97), Dayton ( 111) and Siena ( 142) to round-out the top 5. The Bobcats' 939 is their second-best 54-hole score in postseason history.

Sazhin started the day even through the first seven holes of the day before she bogeyed holes No. 17 and 18 to finish the back nine at 2. She finished the front nine at 4 to give her a 78 ( 6) for the third round. Sazhin shot an 80 for the first round before following with the best round of the tournament with a 73 on Saturday. She finished with a 231 ( 15) for the tournament, two strokes ahead of Albany's Paige Fujihara.

Tobia-Palza also shot par of seven of her first nine holes to sit at 2 at the turn before she bogeyed holes No. 1 and 2. She birdied hole No. 4 before finishing the front nine at 6. Tobia-Palza finished the tournament five strokes off of Sazhin's lead with a 236 ( 20) after shooting 80-76-80 for the three-day tournament.

Kemmling continued her consistent play, turning in her third-straight round with a 79 ( 7). Kemmling finished the tournament with a 237 ( 21). She opened the day at -1 through four holes with a birdie on No. 4 before finishing the first nine holes at a team-best 1. She shot a 6 on the front nine to put her at 7 for the day.

Morales started the third round tied for 10^th and moved up a spot to earn all-conference honors in her first postseason competition. Morales shot an 82 ( 10) on the first day, followed by a 79 ( 7) on Saturday. She continued to improve with a 77 ( 5) for the final round. Morales was 3 on the back nine before she double-bogeyed on hole No. 2. She then shot par on the final seven holes to finish at 2 for the front nine.

Quinnipiac will now advance to the NCAA Regional for the second-consecutive season. The 2017 NCAA Women's Golf Tournament Bracket will be announced on Thursday, Apr. 27 at 11 AM EST on Golf Channel.