UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Backed by a 7-under second round, Penn State closes the opening day of the 2021 Nittany Lion Invitational with a nine-stroke lead. The Nittany Lions carded back-to-back rounds in red figures and came back from a four-stroke deficit following the conclusion of the opening round to carry the lead into Sunday's final round.
Being played on the Penn State White Course for the first time in over ten years, Penn State sits ahead of Delaware (even-par) entering the final round. James Madison and Seton Hall are tied for third at 4-over while Princeton sits in fifth at 6-over.
Junior Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) backed-up a first-round 69 (3-under) by carding a 4-under, 68, in the second round to secure the individual lead at 7-under for the tournament. In her second 18 of the day, the junior went out at 5-under, 32, rattling off four-straight birdies to close the front-nine before coming in with a 1-over back-nine.
"I felt good out there today. I was confident going in because we know the White Course so well," mentioned Delavallade. "My short game was solid, it helped me a lot getting close to the pins to make some birdies or save some pars."
Following an even-par opening round of 72, senior Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) turned in a clean card during her second round finishing with a career-low 6-under, 66, tying her personal-best. Willis is currently one shot behind Delavallade in second at 6-under for the championship.
"In all honesty I wasn't hitting it that great [in the second round]," commented Willis. "But because I was so focused on my target the ball was going where I wanted it to and the putts were falling when I needed them to."
Sophomore Victoria Tip-Aucha (Vienna, Va.) also had a consistent day and sits in the top-10 at days end in a tie for ninth. Following a 1-under, 71, in the opening round, Tip-Aucha carded 1-over, 73, in the second round to finish the day at even-par entering Sunday's round.
Junior Isha Dhurva (Katy, Texas) tallied identical rounds of 2-over, 74, in her first career Nittany Lion Invitational, after missing the 2019 installment due to injury and last season's not being played due to Covid-19. Dhruva is currently tied for 30th position at 4-over.
Freshman Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.) rounded out the team scoring for the day with rounds of 74 (2-over) and 76 (4-over).
Individually, senior Taylor Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.) climbed 17 spots between the first and second rounds with an even-par, 72, during her second 18 of the day following an opening round 75, 3-over. Waller is currently tied for 23rd entering Sunday.
Freshman Katie Scheck (Greensboro, Ga.) came out strong firing the second-lowest opening round of the day with a 4-under, 68, in her first collegiate golf round. The rookie fell off the pace a bit during her second-round carding an 81 (9-over) and currently sits in tied for 35th.
Sophomore Maria Arizaga (Samborondon, Ecuador) and junior Lauren Freyvogel (Gibsonia, Pa.) finished the day tied for 41st at 6-over after 36 holes.
Freshman classmates Michelle Cox (Allentown, Pa.) and Jami Morris (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) also each competed as individuals in their first collegiate tournament.
"The team did a great job staying in the moment and being patient," stated head coach Denise St. Pierre. "Things really began to roll in the second round, they were connected to the energy from each other."
The field concludes the tournament tomorrow morning with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.
FULL DAY 1 RESULTS
