BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Auburn women's golf team closed out Tennessee to start the day, clinching a spot in the SEC semifinals for the third straight year, but a 3-2 loss to Florida ended the Tigers' run at the SEC Championship on Saturday.
"I honestly thought we got beat by birdies," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said. "Florida played very well. When you come in as the underdog, you've got nothing to lose. We've been in that position, too. I don't know that we felt like we had anything to lose. It was just match play.
"All the matches were really close except for Megan's (Schofill), and she even fought back. The fight that I saw from our players was very commendable. It just hurts."
Seniors Kaleigh Telfer and Mychael O'Berry each won their matches against Florida. It was the second win of the day for O'Berry who picked up 4&3 victories against both Florida and Tennessee. She was the only Auburn player to go 2-0 on the day. Telfer was all square in the first match when the Tigers secured the third point and won 4-0-1.
Anna Foster and Elina Sinz clinched the quarterfinal win over Tennessee with back-to-back putts. Foster made a long birdie putt on 17 to win her match, 2&1, and Sinz followed with a short par putt on 16 to notch a 3&2 victory and send the Tigers to the semifinals.
Schofill finished her match against the Volunteers on Friday night, winning 9&7.
Auburn finished first in the stroke-play portion of the SEC Championship on Friday to earn the No. 1 seed for match play. Schofill was the individual runner-up.
"I'm very proud of the overall week," Luellen said. "I feel like we won part of this tournament, and from a stroke-play standpoint going into regionals, I thought that was really important to be able to dig deep and stay on top. We will bounce back and get ready for the next step."
Next up for Auburn will be the NCAA Regionals on May 9-11. The Tigers will find out what seed they are and where they're headed on April 27.
Match Play Results - Semifinals
No. 5 Florida def. No. 1 Auburn, 3-2-0
Marina Escobar (UF) def. Megan Schofill (AU), 3&2
Kaleigh Telfer (AU) vs. Annabell Fuller (UF), 2UP
Clara Manzalini (UF) def. Elina Sinz (AU), 4&3
Maisie Filler (UF) def. Anna Foster (AU), 2&1
Mychael O'Berry (AU) def. Jackie Lucena (UF), 4&3
Match Play Results - Quarterfinals
No. 1 Auburn def. No. 8 Tennessee, 4-0-1
Megan Schofill (AU) def. Hadley Walts (UT), 9&7
Anna Foster (AU) def. Bailey Davis (UT), 2&1
Elina Sinz (AU) def. Kayla Holden (UT), 3&2
Kaleigh Telfer (AU) vs. Vanessa Gilly (UT), A/S
Mychael O'Berry (AU) def. Mikayla Bardwell (UT), 4&3