Sept. 14, 2006

Charlottesville, VA - The ninth-ranked Virginia women's golf team opens its fall season against a formidable field Friday at the Mason Rudolph Championship hosted by Vanderbilt at the Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn. The three-day, 54-hole tournament will take place on the par-72, 6,347-yard Ironhorse Course.

A total of 12 of the teams in the 15-squad field are ranked in Golfweek Magazine's preseason Top-25 poll. Headlining that list is defending NCAA and Mason Rudolph champion Duke. Also competing are No. 3 Georgia, No. 5 UCLA, No. 8 Purdue, No. 11 Wake Forest, No. 12 Arizona, No. 15 Vanderbilt, No. 16 Oklahoma State, No. 17 Stanford, No. 19 LSU, No. 24 Arkansas, Alabama, High Point and Missouri.

Virginia's lineup for the season opener will feature sophomore Jennie Arseneault, senior Leah Wigger, junior Lauren Mielbrecht, sophomore Carly Truitt and senior Rachel Smith. The Cavaliers will be paired with UCLA and Missouri during the opening round and will begin play at 9:30 a.m.

Wigger is ranked as the No. 6 player in Golf World's preseason rankings for the top individual players. Golfweek listed her as a second-team preseason All-American. Arseneault was also cited by Golf World as one of the nation's top 50 players.

Last season Wigger recorded 10 top-10 finishes in 11 tournaments while leading UVa with a 73.26 stroke average. She was UVa's top finisher in eight tournaments, recorded her second straight top-10 finish at the NCAAs (ninth in 2006) and became the program's first All-American. Arseneault, who did not enroll at Virginia until January, was second on the team with a 75.50 stroke average.

Results from the tournament will be available on Golfstat.com