Feb. 11, 2013

Sorrento, Fla. - A day after shooting the lowest single-round score of her career, Virginia sophomore Briana Mao (Folsom, Calif.) bettered that effort to move into a tie for first place at the UCF Challenge following 36 holes of play. Mao carded an opening round score of 2-under 70 and followed that up with a 3-under 69 Monday. She is tied with Augusta State's Natalie Wille at 5-under 139 entering Tuesday's final round.

Thanks in part to Mao's low round, the Cavaliers moved up to a tie with Miami for sixth place on the 18-team leaderboard at Redtail Golf Club in Sorrento, Fla. Virginia shot 4-over 292, the second best round Monday, for a two-day total of 12-over 588. North Carolina leads the field at 11-under 565 following a second round score of 10-under 278.

Mao used birdies on her first, fifth, 11th and 18th holes to offset one bogey during her best day as a collegiate. She entered the tournament having posted one top-10 finish in her career. He was seventh at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate last March.

Cavalier senior Brittany Altomare also managed to go below par during the second round, shooting 1-under 71, to move up to 27th place at 4-over 148. Portland Rosen is in 37th position at 149 following a second-round 75. Nicole Agnello is in 62nd place at 153 after shooting 78 Monday. Elizabeth Brightwell shot 77 after opening with a score of 85 to move up to 92nd at 162. Lauren Coughlin, competing as a non-scoring individual, shot 77 and is in 18th place at 2-over 146.

The final round of the tournament gets underway Tuesday at 8:45 a.m. with a shotgun start. Live scoring is online at Golfstat.com.

UCF Challenge Redtail Golf Club Sorrento, Fla. Par-72, 6,374 yards Second Round Results

Team Results
 1. North Carolina     287-278-565
 2. UCF                287-294-581
 2. Tulane             288-293-581
 4. East Carolina      289-298-587
 4. Augusta State      287-300-587
 6. Miami              293-295-588
 6. Virginia           296-292-588
 8. South Carolina     284-306-590
 9. Mississippi        296-295-591
 9. Texas State        293-298-591
11. South Florida      297-301-598
12. Louisville         299-302-601
13. Coastal Carolina   302-300-602
14. Kennesaw State     292-314-606
15. Col. of Charleston 299-308-607
16. Missouri           300-308-608
17. Georgia State      304-311-615
18. Oregon State       305-312-617
Individual Leaders
1. Briana Mao, Virginia              70-69-139
1. Natalie Wille, Augusta State      67--72-139
3. Casey Grice, North Carolina       72-68-140
4. Krista Puisite, Texas State       72-69-141
4. Leticia Ras-Anderica, Miami       69-72-141
6. Elizabeth Mallett, North Carolina 73-69-142
Virginia Results
 1. Briana Mao           70-69-139
18. Lauren Coughlin *    69-77-146
27. Brittany Altomare    77-71-148
37. Portland Rosen       74-75-149
62. Nicole Agnello       75-78-153
92. Elizabeth Brightwell 85-77-162
* Non-scoring individual