SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University's women's golf team was selected to the NCAA Regional for a second straight year Monday, the Bulldogs headed to Tumble Creek at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Wash., for the West Regional hosted by the University of Washington.
Gonzaga is a 17th seed. Included in the West Regional field is defending national champion and No. 1 seed University of Southern California.
The other two regionals are the East Regional at SouthWood Golf Club in Tallahassee, Fla., hosted by Florida State University, and the Central Regional at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., hosted by Oklahoma State University. Regional play will be held May 8-10. Each of the three regionals is a 24-team field with the top eight schools and two individuals from each regional going to the NCAA Finals May 20-13 in Tulsa, Okla.
Last season the 16th-seeded Bulldogs were sent to the Central Regional in Norman, Okla., so staying close to home this season was well received.
"Very excited to go West this year," Gonzaga head coach Brad Rickel said. "Grass we're familiar with, a climate we're familiar with and a place we've heard great things about. We're very excited."
Other than the top eight seeds which flashed on the screen prior to the Bulldogs, Rickel said he didn't know much about the field yet.
"I have to be honest. I was just looking for our name. The first eight teams in that region as I was watching are very strong, after that I was just waiting for our name to hopefully pop up," Rickel noted.
But the 8-year Bulldog head coach - seven years in his current stint - said where a team is sent doesn't matter.
"It doesn't matter which region you go to. You don't play defense. We just have to golf our ball the best we can. That will be our plan; figure out the golf course and go play our game," Rickel said.
The top eight seeds that did catch Rickel's eye include two other teams from the Pacific-12 Conference joining top-seeded USC. Arizona State University is the No. 2 seed and the University of Washington checked in at No. 4.
Conference champions sent to the West Regional are Big 12 Conference champ and No. 3 seed University of Oklahoma; Big Ten Conference representative and No. 8 seed Michigan State University, Big West Conference winner and No. 13 seed University of California Davis, The Summit League titlist and No. 14 seed University of Denver, Southern Conference champ and No. 20 seed University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Mountain West Conference winner and No. 21 seed University of New Mexico, Western Athletic Conference winner and No. 22 seed New Mexico State University, Big Sky Conference survivor and No. 23 seed Portland State University and Horizon League champ and No. 24 seed University of Detroit Mercy.
Rickel said the second time around will be a lot easier to manage.
"Last year we had a struggle with finals week, trying to be prepared, being overwhelmed with trying to take our finals early and just everything that came with trying to wrap up our school year while preparing to go. We erred on the side of not practicing enough and trying to get past our stress level," Rickel said of the preparations last year. "This year we're much more eyes wide open. Everybody hit the ground running after conference. We expected to go and we've been planning for it since. We feel like we're going to go represent ourselves better this year."
The Bulldogs finished 19th a year ago, and Rickel said this year's selection "validates we're a golf program playing on the national stage and one that plans on being in the post-season every year. It's not going to be one of our end goals anymore, but one of our goals we have every year leading up to bigger and better things."
Rickel believes last year's inaugural NCAA team and this year's are very similar.
"Victoria (Fallgren) was a big leader last year. Ciera (Min), our freshman, has come in and done a great job. We're similar to last year with the exception of being just a little bit more experienced through Alice (Kim), Han (Wu), Raychelle (Santos) and TJ (Tai Jade Kliebphipat). We are way more experienced in the fact we've been to regionals and we're not overwhelmed by it now."
Kim said she's excited about staying in Washington.
"First off we're going to the West Regional," she said of the main difference between this year and last year. "I feel the players going and the schools that made it have a bigger name like USC. They are the defending champions. It's in Washington; that will be awesome so let's hope for the best weather and play golf."
But she echoed her coach's sentiments that it doesn't really matter where you go or who is in the field.
"It doesn't matter. You're playing golf. It's not against the field, you're playing against yourself," said the junior from Honolulu.
Kim has been on quite a tear at the end of the season, winning each of the last three tournaments and leading wire-to-wire in all three, including the West Coast Conference Championship.
Rickel said it's the most amazing run he's seen in his 16 years of collegiate coaching.
"I've had a lot of players win a lot of tournaments but I've never had anybody win three in a row. Raychelle won two in a row last year. Alice has been locked in, the best player on the golf course for nine straight rounds. It's been an amazing run. Hopefully, she can keep the mojo going with the little break we've had," he said.
The Bulldogs have posted a 97-20 record this year and with the exception of the formidable Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational hosted by the University of Washington, the Bulldogs finished no lower than fourth in any tournament this season. Gonzaga finished eighth at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, a field that included seven NCAA teams in addition to the Bulldogs. Pac-12 champion and No. 3 East seed Stanford University won the tourney, No. 4 West seed Washington was second, No. 6 East seed UCF placed third, No. 11 West seed University of Oregon was fourth, No. 12 Central seed University of California was fifth, No. 13 West seed University of California, Davis finished sixth and No. 17 Central seed University of Colorado placed ninth behind the Bulldogs.
Gonzaga won a pair of tournaments this year - the Jim West Challenge in New Braunfels, Texas, and The Gold Rush Invitational in Yorba Linda, Calif. The Zags finished second in four tournaments, including the West Coast Conference Championship, and placed fourth in three others.
For information on Tumble Creek Golf Course click here.
NCAA West Regional Field
Tumble Creek at Suncadia Resort - Cle Elum, Wash.
(Conference Champion in parentheses)
1. University of Southern California, 2. Arizona State University, 3. University of Oklahoma (Big 12 Conference), 4. University of Washington, 5. Clemson University, 6. Wake Forest University, 7. Northwestern University, 8. Michigan State University (Big Ten Conference), 9. Iowa State University, 10. Georgia Regents University Augusta, 11. University of Oregon, 12. Texas A&M University, College Station, 13. University of California, Davis (Big West Conference), 14. University of Denver (The Summit League), 15. San Diego State University, 16. University of Wisconsin, Madison, 17. Gonzaga University, 18. University of Notre Dame, 19. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 20. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (Southern Conference), 21. University of New Mexico (Mountain West Conference), 22. New Mexico State University (Western Athletic Conference), 23. Portland State University (Big Sky Conference), 24. University of Detroit Mercy (Horizon League).
Individuals
1. Alison Knowles (University of Louisiana, Monroe); 2. Regan De Guzman (San Jose State University); 3. Clariss Guce (California State University Northridge); 4. Fabiola Arriaga (University of Texas, San Antonio); 5. Madchen Ly (California State University, Fresno); 6. Alexandra White (Brigham Young University)
