CARLSBAD, Calif. — Top-seeded Stanford women’s golf endured a shaky beginning to NCAA Championship match play in the quarterfinals against No. 8 Virginia before coming from behind to win 3-1. All three winners occurred in short order, advancing Stanford to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year.
As most groups reached the turn, Stanford was trailing in three of five matches, including a pair of matches that were down by three strokes. As the back nine progressed, Stanford continued to get better and flipped several matches.
The biggest flip was the first one to finish, as Paula Martín Sampedro struggled early in her match against Kennedy Swedick. She gave up the first hole and trailed by as many as three with five holes remaining. That’s when Martín Sampedro caught fire and won an incredible four-straight holes, knocking down the putts she needed to, to turn a 3-stroke deficit into a one-stroke lead heading to 18. Swedick had a chance to tie and force a playoff but lipped out her birdie putt, giving Stanford its first point of the match in dramatic fashion.
While this was going on, Meja Örtengren was securing her match against Megan Propeck. Meja never trailed, but it was tied through 12 holes. She then won two of the final holes, including a birdie putt on 17, to get the win. She only had two birdies throughout the round but was able to make clutch par saves when she needed to.
Stanford officially secured the win thanks to a hot finish from Andrea Revuelta, who became the third underclassman to win for the Cardinal in the quarterfinals. She beat Rebecca Skoler 5&3 and did so thanks in part to winning three straight holes from 11-13, putting the pressure on Skoler to start winning holes. The match was essentially conceded when Revuelta stuck an incredible shot on the green that kissed the flag, giving her a tap-in for birdie while Skoler wound up in the bunker.
The Cardinal will turn around and face off against the ACC Champions, No. 4 Florida State, at 1:15 pm this afternoon. Coverage will begin on Golf Channel at 3 pm.
No. 1 Stanford def. No. 8 Virginia, 3-1
1. Paula Martín Sampedro (STAN) def. Kennedy Swedick (UVA), 1up
2. Meja Örtengren (STAN) def. Megan Propeck (UVA), 2&1
3. Jaclyn LaHa (UVA) def. Kelly Xu (STAN), 3&2
4. Megha Ganne (STAN) tied with Amanda Sambach (UVA), thru 15
5. Andrea Revuelta (STAN) def. Rebecca Skoler (UVA), 5&3
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3, 5*