Oregon State
Liz Murphy Classic
Beavers Battle Against No. 1 Duke, No. 7 Arkansas
April 03, 2016 | Women's Golf
ATHENS, Ga. – The Oregon State women's golf team took on two top-10 teams in the 44th Annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic on Saturday and had a chance to win both before narrowly falling late in the match play competition.
The Beavers dropped a hard-fought match to No. 1 Duke, 3.5-1.5, in the morning and almost pulled out the victory over No. 7 Arkansas in a 3-2 finish in the afternoon at the par-72, 6,307-yard University of Georgia Golf Course.
Oregon State will face Auburn in its final match on Sunday. Live scoring and pairings are available at birdiefire.com.
“Today we played against two of the best teams in the country,” Oregon State head coach Sammie Chergo said. “We were very competitive and had great chances to win both. Olivia Benzin was a bright spot, winning both of her matches. She showed great grit and competitive spirit.
“This is a great learning experience to play in an event like this. I know our program will continue to grow from the opportunity.”
Olivia Benzin, a freshman from Tacoma, Wash., went 2-0 on the day, winning 3-and-2 over Virginia Elena Carta of Duke and 3-and-1 against Regina Plasencia of Arkansas.
Senior Chelsea Saelee got a half point in the morning round after being all square through 18 holes against Duke's Sandy Choi. Senior Ashlee Pickerell picked up a point in the afternoon with a 2-and-1 win over Summer Roachell of Arkansas.
The 12-team tournament featured one qualifying round of stroke play on Friday. The top-eight teams were put in the “red” bracket and the remaining four teams went in the “black” bracket.
The competitive field has eight teams ranked in the top 14 in golfstat.com's latest rankings, including teams that have combined to win 13 of the past 16 NCAA Championships.
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