The Michigan State women’s golf team is set to host the East Lansing Regional at Forest Akers West Course on May 6-8, as the Spartans will be appearing in their 24th NCAA Regional since 1999. All of those appearances have been under head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll.
It wasn’t a surprise to the members of MSU’s women’s golf team to be selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament, but it was a thrill for Slobodnik-Stoll to see that they would be competing in their own backyard.
"It's always exciting when you see your name appear for an NCAA Regional," Slobodnik-Stoll said in a statement. "Obviously, it was a bit different since we're the host, but it's still a great feeling and a great sense of accomplishment."
The Spartans were selected as an at-large team and are the No. 5 seed out of 12 teams selected to compete in the East Lansing Regional.
MSU enters the regional ranked No. 30 in the country and is coming off a runner-up finish at the Big Ten Championships and was among one of the eight schools from the conference to qualify for NCAA Regionals.
Among the teams competing in the East Lansing Regional in order of best seed include USC, Northwestern, Florida, Pepperdine, Michigan State, Kentucky, Denver, Oklahoma State, Indiana, Augusta, Illinois State and Oakland.
The field will also include six individual competitors from schools that didn’t qualify as a team, which includes Isabel Sy (Illinois), Catie Craig (Western Kentucky), Lauren Beaudreau (Notre Dame), Carmen Griffiths and Hana Ryskova (Louisville), and Katie Petrova (Evansville).
The Spartans will tee off at 9 a.m. on Monday. They will play with Pepperdine and Kentucky.
Michigan State's lineup features Paula Balanzategui, Katie Lu, Brooke Biermann, Leila Raines, Valentina Rossi and Shannon Kennedy.
The top five teams and lowest scoring individual not on an advancing team from the East Lansing Regional will advance to the National Championships, which is to be played on May 17-22 at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California.
