CARLSBAD, Calif. — Top seeded Stanford women's golf got through the Auburn Tigers in its quarterfinal match of the NCAA Championship 3-0 on Tuesday morning. Stanford closed it out by winning consecutive holes on 16.
Rachel Heck was the first big winner for the Cardinal, beating Anna Davis of Auburn 4&3 for the first point of the day for Stanford. Heck led the duration of the match, earning the first point after the first hole and extending that lead to as many as five holes.
The second point came in thrilling fashion, as Sadie Englemann needed a comeback to force a playoff hole, which she won. She lost 13 and trailed by one stroke until the 18th hole, where she used a fantastic shot placed close to the pin to force a playoff with Anna Foster. The two went back to the par-3 16 tee box, where Englemann eventually was able to nail a putt to secure the win and put Stanford up 2-0.
Kelly Xu was right behind Englemann on 16 and was able to close it out for Stanford after the hole was conceded by Katie Cranston of Auburn. She finished with a 4&2 victory that featured Xu winning four holes during a five-hole span from holes 8-12.
The two matches that did not conclude featured Megha Ganne and Paula Martin Sampedro. Ganne was up 2 through 15 while Martin Sampedro was trailing by 3 through 15.
By virtue of beating Auburn, Stanford will see USC in the second semifinal match. These teams met in last year's semifinal with the Trojans getting the best of the Cardinal 3-1. The winner will face the winner of the other semifinal between UCLA and Oregon in the championship match on Wednesday at 2 pm.
The matchups will be Rachel Heck/Amari Avery, Sadie Englemann/Cindy Kou, Paula Martin Sampedro/Bailey Shoemaker, Megha Ganne/Brianna Navarrosa, and Kelly Xu/Catherine Park.
Fans can tune into live coverage for the remainder of match play on Golf Channel.
