Salukis to compete in MVC Championships, Sunday through Tuesday
04/15/2016 | 12:00:00 | Women's Golf
| MVC Championship | |
| Dates | Sunday, April 17 - Tuesday, April 19, 2016 |
| Location | Port Course at Harborside International Golf Center - Chicago, Ill. |
| Teams | Bradley, Drake, Evansville, Illinois State, Indiana State, Loyola, Missouri State, UNI, Southern Illinois, Wichita State |
| Live Scoring | GolfStat Live Scoring |
| MVC Championship Central | MVC Championship Central |
| Season Stats | SIU Women's Golf Statistics |
| Media Guide | SIU 2015-16 Media Guide |
| Social Media | @SIU_WGolf  | Saluki Women's Golf  |
By Elizabeth Robinson
SIUSalukis.com
CHICAGO, Ill. -- The SIU women's golf team will wrap up its season this weekend as the Salukis travel to Chicago to compete in the Missouri Valley Conference Women's Golf Championships, hosted by Loyola.
The Salukis were selected to finish fourth in the tournament in the pre-championship poll of league coaches, earning 73 points. SIU has made a significant jump after being selected sixth with only 55 points last year. Wichita State, the defending champion team, was selected to defend its title for the third straight year.
SIU has had success against conference opponents already this year, beating every team in the Valley at least once. SIU has only fallen to Bradley and Illinois State this year in the first tournament of the season at the Redbird Invitational. Most recently, SIU topped six MVC teams at the ORU/SFA Spring Break Invite in Texas, finishing fifth of 20 teams overall.
"It's good to see our conference teams and know where we stand, and we definitely know we're the best team there," SIU head coach Alexis Mihelich said. "We're making sure we're mentally prepared to play in the tournament so we can try to have an edge just with our mindsets."
This year's tournament is held at Port Course at Harborside International Golf Center, a par 72 course that plays 5,977 yards. The Salukis have competed in two tournaments in the Chicago area this year, finishing first at both the Loyola Fall Invitational and the UIC Fall Invitational.
"Golf courses are designed to be really challenging. They put obstacles in your way, and you have to be a really disciplined player to be able to figure them out and embrace the challenge instead of getting frustrate," Mihelich said. "We're making sure they really enjoy the experience, and when they get into a challenging situation to embrace it and try to problem solve instead of getting really frustrated."
SIU has finished in the top-five in eight of the team's 11 tournaments this season, posting as low as 293 on a round of 18. The Salukis currently have a 307.77 four-player team average. Junior Brooke Cusumano leads the team with a 76.29 average, which ranks second all-time in SIU history for lowest average in a season.
Cusumano will golf at the No. 1 spot for the Salukis this weekend, followed by Mattie Lindner, Hanna Netisingha, Kristie Yang and Sun Young Jung. This will be the third trip to the MVC tournament for Cusumano and Lindner, the second for Netisingha and the first for both Yang and Jung. Cusumano has come away as SIU's top finisher in five tournaments this year, including a first-place finish at the Murray State Invitational. Netisingha also earned an individual title at the UIC Fall Invitational. Both Netisingha and Lindner have been SIU's top finisher twice each, while Jung and Yang have each been the top finisher once.
"They aren't afraid or thinking the other teams are so much better than us. This is the same lineup that beat the conference teams over spring break, so I think they know they're done it before, so they can do it again," Mihelich said. "I think if anything it's a confidence boost for these players."
Last year, SIU finished the MVC Championships in third place with an overall 948 team score. Cusumano was the Salukis' top finisher, earning second place overall. In Mihelich's tenure at SIU, the Salukis have finished third three times and fourth once.
The 2016 MVC Championships are set to begin Sunday and will conclude on Tuesday.
Players Mentioned
