Megan Whittaker posted a perfect 3-0 record to lead the Nebraska women's golf team at the Big Ten Match Play on Monday and Tuesday on the Island Golf Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla.
Whittaker, a junior from Elkhorn, Neb., wrapped up Nebraska's opening competition of the spring with a 2&1 victory over Minnesota's Leah Herzog, a former teammate of Whittaker's at NU. Whittaker opened match play competition on Monday with a 4&2 win over Wisconsin's Tracy Lee, before adding a dominant up 4 thru 14 win over Iowa's Manuela Lizarazu on Monday afternoon.
"Megan has worked as hard as anyone, both in her physical and mental games, and it really showed in her scoring this week," Nebraska Head Coach Lisa Johnson said. "Her competitive spirit and steadiness in her demeanor is well-suited for match play."
Whittaker's win against Iowa helped the Huskers roll to a 4-0-2 team win over the Hawkeyes. Husker senior Kirsten Baete added a pair of victories at the Big Ten Match Play, including a 1 up thru 14 win over Iowa Klara Wildhaber. Baete opened the tournament with a 2&1 win over Wisconsin's Mackenzie Hahn.
Despite the wins from Whittaker and Baete, the Huskers dropped a narrow 3-2-1 decision to the Badgers in the opening match, before rebounding with the 4-0-2 win over Iowa.
In Tuesday's final match of the tournament for the Huskers, freshman Miu Takahashi added a 3&2 victory over Minnesota's Alexis McMurray, but Nebraska dropped the team match to the Golden Gophers, 4-2. Vanessa Bouvet and Baete both dropped narrow 1UP decisions to their Minnesota counterparts in matches that went down to the wire to decide the team outcome.
The Huskers open the stroke play portion of their spring schedule when they travel to New Orleans for the Tulane Classic (Feb. 13-15).
Minnesota 4-2-0 Nebraska (Tuesday AM)
Grace Curran, MINN 1UP Vanessa Bouvet, NEB
Geraldine Wong, MINN 3&1 Lindsey Thiele, NEB
Joanne Free, MINN 1UP Kirsten Baete, NEB
Megan Whittaker, NEB 2&1 Leah Herzog, MINN
Emma Carpenter, MINN 2UP Michaela Vavrova, NEB
Miu Takahashi, NEB 3&2 Alexis McMurray, MINN
Nebraska 4-0-2 Iowa (Monday PM)
Vanessa Bouvet, NEB 6&5 Paula Miranda, IOWA
Lindsey Thiele, NEB up 2 thru 14 Morgan Goldstein, IOWA
Kirsten Baete, NEB, up 1 thru 14 Klara Wildhaber, IOWA
Megan Whittaker, NEB up 4 thru 14 Manuela Lizarazu, IOWA
Michaela Vavrova, NEB Tie thru 13 Dana Lerner, IOWA
Miu Takahashi, NEB Tie thru 13 Lea Zeitler, IOWA
Wisconsin 3-2-1 Nebraska (Monday AM)
Emily Lauterbach, WIS 1UP Vanessa Bouvet, NEB
Vanessa Ho, WIS 1UP Miu Takahashi, NEB
Kirsten Baete, NEB 2&1 Mackenzie Hahn, WIS
Megan Whittaker, NEB 4&2 Tracy Lee, WIS
Michaela Vavrova, NEB Tie Chloe Chan, WIS
Gia Feliciano, WIS 3&2 Lindsey Thiele, NEB
Megan Whittaker went 3-0 at the Big Ten Match Play in Florida to open the spring.