ORLANDO, Fla. – It has been a tale of two days so far at the UCF Challenge for Penn State after a gorgeous 80-degree day on Sunday the field was met by a cold and blustery day on Monday that actually prompted a Wind Chill Advisory for the Orlando area.
The Nittany Lions struggled posting an 18-over round and falling from sixth to 13th in the 17-team field. Only two teams were able to keep it under par as a unit on Monday with Houston jumping from fifth to first after a 7-under round of 281 puts them at 15-under for the tournament. Virginia carded a 1-under round on Monday and slid up three spots to fourth as the Cavaliers sit at 4-under for the championship after 36 holes. Wake Forest (11-under), Arkansas (8-under) and while Kent State (2-under) round out the top-five.
Sophomore classmates Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) and Isha Dhruva (Katy, Texas) along with freshman Victoria Tip-Aucha (Vienna, Va.) paced the Nittany Lions with matching rounds of 4-over, 76, on Monday.
Delavallade went out in 3-over and came in at 1-over after finishing with a disappointing double-bogey. The sophomore is currently tied for 34th at 2-over, 146, for the championship. Dhruva's round was highlighted by a four-hole stretch of four-under par that was jumpstarted when she holed out for eagle on the par-4, 14th.
Senior Megan McLean (Lebanon, N.J.) carded a 6-over, 78, to round out the team scoring while juniors Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) and Taylor Waller (Cannonsburg, Pa.) each turned in rounds of 82 (10-over) in the second round of competition.
The Nittany Lions are back on the course tomorrow morning for the final round of competition.
FULL ROUND 2 RESULTS
Mark Selders