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KUTZTOWN, Pa.- The West Chester University women's golf team is finishing its preparations for the 2024 edition of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships, which are set to be held once again at Berkleigh Golf Club in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. The 54-hole Tournament is slated to get underway on Friday morning and will conclude with the third round on Sunday.

West Chester heads to the Conference Championship for what is currently its final scheduled Tournament of the 2023-24 season, which is the Golden Rams' first season under the tutelage of head coach Chris Merce. The Golden Rams enter the weekend with tremendous momentum after finishing in the top three of each Tournament this Spring, including a victory at the Vulcan Fire Invitational in late March to get the Spring season underway. With this effort, West Chester has finished in the top three of nine of 11 Tournaments in 2023-24, including the victory at the Vulcan Fire and second-place finishes at the Cal Vulcan Invitational, the Dr. Wally Edgell Invitational, the Kutztown Fall Invitational, the Marauder and Millersville Spring Invitationals, as well as the Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg Invitationals.

"We've played a solid stretch of golf this spring," opened Merce. "We finished in the top 3 in each event this spring, but we've only come away with one team title, so we've missed some opportunities to close out a few tournaments. We finished within six shots of the lead in every tournament, which emphasizes the importance of trying to minimize mistakes, understanding that every stroke matters over the course of the tournament, and being able to close out rounds."
 
At the 2023 Championships, which were also held at Berkleigh for what was the second year in a row, West Chester battled rain and wind throughout the weekend to finish in third with a 36-hole score of 672 (350, 322) as the third and final round was canceled due to weather and resulting course conditions.

Margaux Solis (Houston, Tx./Klein) led West Chester at those Championships with a seventh-place finish with a 36-hole score of 165 (+21), while Molly Gregor (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Gwynedd Mercy Academy) and Madilyn Siuta (Coopersburg, Pa./Quakertown) finished in a tie for 10^th with 168's (+24).

When asked about the familiarity with the course as the Golden Rams head to Berkleigh for the third year in a row, Merce said, "Our returning players feel confident playing at Berkleigh, and the team had a good showing there last spring. Since this is my first year in the PSAC and my first time seeing the course, having upperclassmen with familiarity with the course is always helpful."
 
Morgan Kunze (Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford) picked up her first collegiate victory in March at the Vulcan Fire Classic, shooting +24 for 36 holes to take first in the 38-player field, and has also picked up top-10 finishes at the two-day Marauder Invitational, Kutztown Fall Invitational, the Husky Spring Invitational, and the ESU Spring Invitational. Kunze enters the Championships with an 85.7 scoring average, which is second on the team, trailing only Kirsten Vanderhorst (Gambrills, Md./Bishop McNamara).

Vanderhorst finished the 2023 PSAC Championships in a tie for 24^th and has had a tremendous 2024 season, racking up five top-10s, including a trio of top-three finishes at Davis & Elkins in early September at the Dr. Edwin B. Cottrell Invitational in West Chester, and the 18-hole Millersville Spring Invitational earlier this month.

Siuta is the lone other Golden Ram to finish atop the leaderboard this year after she finished in a tie for first at the rain-shortened Cottrell Invitational at Penn Oaks with an opening round 78 (+8). Siuta enters her final PSAC Championships with an 86.9 scoring average, the fifth-best on the team, trailing Vanderhorst, Kunze, Solis, and Cierra Griffith (Pottstown, Pa./Spring-Ford).

Griffith is close behind with an 86.4 scoring average as her rookie season nears its conclusion. In her first year of collegiate golf, Griffith racked up five top-10 finishes, including three top-five efforts, as she placed third at the Vulcan Fire Invitational and fourth at the Millersville and ESU Spring Invitationals.

When asked about the two youngest members of his lineup heading into the weekend, Merce said, "Both Morgan and Cierra have played well in their first year and have been an integral part of our lineup all spring. Morgan captured the individual title at the Vulcan Fire Classic, which was exciting because she worked hard in the offseason to put herself in that position. Cierra has been one of the steadiest players in the lineup this spring, and she's recorded top-10 finishes in five of our six spring tournaments. Both can play well this weekend, and I'm looking forward to watching them compete in their first conference championship."

Josephine Genuardi (Harleysville, Pa./William Penn) brings a veteran presence and tremendous depth to the Golden Rams' lineup. She enters the Championships with an 87.1 scoring average and a pair of top-10 finishes.

"We've had a lot of different players play well individually at different points throughout the spring, but I still don't think we've played our best golf as a team yet this semester," said Merce when asked about his excellent depth this Spring.  "We're going to need four solid scores each day this weekend to be in the mix on Sunday, and I think we have the players capable of doing that."
 
The team heads into the weekend looking to pick up its second PSAC Championship after earning its first in 2018. This weekend, the team Champion at the PSAC Championships will also receive an automatic bid to the NCAA DII Women's Golf Championships later in May.

When asked about his message to the team ahead of play beginning on Friday morning, Merce said, "Going into a 54-hole tournament, we need to focus on minimizing our mental errors and limiting our big numbers. Over three rounds, every player will have a few bad holes, so we just need to be mentally strong enough to bounce back and not let those mistakes impact the rest of the round."
 
Currently, Vanderhorst is scheduled to be first off the tee at 11 a.m., followed by Kunze at 11:08, Griffith at 11:16, Genuardi at 11:24, and Siuta at 11:32. These tee times are subject to change as lineup substitutions during the Championships are permitted this year.