UA left in Wake
Razorbacks fall to Deacons in close one
FAYETTEVILLE — Wake Forest junior Siyun Liu threw her hands up in celebration and shouted after sinking a 3-foot putt to push the Demon Deacons into today’s match play semifinals at Blessings Golf Club.
“I did it!” she yelled toward her teammates standing off the green on the ninth hole. “I did it!”
By sinking her putt, Liu effectively ended the University of Arkansas’ season, holding off a late push from Razorbacks senior Dylan Kim, who held three leads throughout her round, including a one-hole advantage with three to play.
“[Liu] celebrates a lot, but I don’t know to that level. I don’t know if I have seen her quite be that happy with what was going on,” first-year Wake Forest Coach Kim Lewellen said. “She is the most entertaining person that you will ever be around, and she is like that 24/7.
“A lot of our players and our team feed off of that and her energy, and it can be contagious and can be helpful during this time.”
Shortly after Liu’s putt, Demon Deacons senior and
last year’s NCAA individual champion Jennifer Kupcho put the finishing touches on Wake Forest’s quarterfinal victory. Kupcho defeated Razorbacks senior Kaylee Benton, who fell into three-hole deficits twice on the back nine before applying late pressure, forcing the top-ranked amateur player in the world to be precise.
“I thought we were in a tough spot [coming out of the six-plus hour rain delay]. We came back and battled,” Arkansas Coach Shauna Taylor said. “Dylan and Kaylee just battled. They’re warriors.”
After a less than ideal start Tuesday, Brooke Matthews — a redshirt freshman from Rogers — completed the individual comeback of the day for Arkansas, erasing Wake Forest’s Letizia Bagnoli’s three-hole lead in a span of five holes. Matthews then parred the par-4 fourth and birdied the par-5 fifth to take her first lead of the day with four holes to play.
She held that lead through 16 holes before Bagnoli hit a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth. She didn’t let it rattle her heading into the final hole, though. On the ninth, Matthews confidently stuck her 88-yard approach within 2 feet of the pin.
“Going into the wind, I knew that it would spin off the hill if I hit it a little long, so that was our plan,” Matthews said after securing Arkansas’ first point. “Luckily I did it.”
Arkansas senior Maria Fassi, who won the NCAA individual title Monday, said she was still feeling the effects of an emotional Monday and started the day slow before defeating Vanessa Knecht 2 & 1.
“I was tired and sore from last night,” Fassi said. “I was able to come back and help the team win a point. We fell a little short of our goal, but I’m extremely proud of the fight we showed out there.”
Wake Forest’s other match play winner was sophomore Emilia Migliaccio, who defeated Arkansas’ Ximena Gonzalez 6 & 4. Migliaccio won the first three holes and cruised, never leading by fewer than two holes the rest of the round.
Other teams advancing to Wednesday’s semifinal round were defending national champion and No. 6 seed Arizona, No. 2 seed Duke and No. 8 seed Auburn.