Pikunas leads Zips women’s golf in Florida

Akron

The Akron women’s golf team traveled to Lakewood Ranch, Fla. for the Mid-American Conference Match Play Challenge hosted by Bowling Green on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 5-6.

The two-day event is scheduled to be played at the 6,068-yard, Par-72 Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club and features 12 teams. Among the 12-team field are eight MAC schools that include host Bowling Green, Akron, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Northern Illinois, Ohio, and Western Michigan. Other non-league opponents include Dayton, Florida Gulf Coast, Fort Wayne, and UNC Asheville.

Akron enters the event as the No. 4 seed with a 157 Golfstat ranking for an opening round bye. The Zips are scheduled to start the event in the quarterfinal round against the winner of the Western Michigan/Fort Wayne matchup on Monday afternoon. Akron is slated to begin on hole No. 1 with seven-minute interval tee times ranging from 12:35 to 1:03 p.m.

The Zips are led by freshman Jacinta Pikunas (Youngstown) with a 73.18 stroke average. During the Fall, Pikunas set program records for the individual best round (66, -6), the best 36-hole total (138, -6), and top 54-hole total (210, -6) en route to four Top 25 finishes that included a win in her second collegiate tournament.