Belle Vernon, PA. - The Wheeling University Women's Golf team took part in their first invitational of the season on Thursday at Cedarbrook Golf Course. The Cardinals traveled to Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, for the Vulcan Invitational, where they  placed 3rd out of 16 colleges that attended the invitational in the first round. The second round was cut short due to weather conditions, and will be made up in combination with the third round on Friday.

Junior, Sawyer Hobbs, finished the first round best of all other Cardinals golfers, finishing in second place with a combined score of 106 through the first 27 holes. She only went 1 over par (35) on the front nine, and kept that momentum going onto the back nine. She hit par on eight of her final nine holes in the round, with the exception being on hole 11. She would hit her second birdie of the round, and was able to balance out the two bogeys she hit on the front nine. She would make it through nine holes of the second round before the rains came down, adding two more birdies to her ledger and sitting even par as she hits the turn towards the back nine.

Right behind Hobbs, finishing tied for fourth place overall in round one, was junior Tilly Jones. Jones shot a 74 (+3) through the first 18 holes, picking up one birdie along the way. She finished the front nine at +1 (36), with a birdie on hole seven propelling her into the turn. She shot par on seven of the final nine holes, adding two strokes on the final two holes to round out the first 18. Freshman Emma Mrkonja had a good start to her collegiate career, finishing tied 29th in the first round with a score of 83 (+12). She shot her first collegiate birdie on hole 15, which was a par three, giving her a confidence boost at the end of the round. She finished the first round shooting six over par, and was able to just crack the top 30. Jones and Mrkonja each got through nine holes of round two, with Jones sitting at +4 and Mrkonja sitting at +8 heading to the back nine.

 Sophomore teammate Ivana Alvarez placed just behind Mrkonja, being tied for 32nd place in the first round with an 84 (+13). Alvarez shot seven over par in the first round, and was through nine holes of round two before the event was put on hold. Rounding out the team scoring of the event was Dorthea Evebo, who shot 86 (+15) in the first round, while sitting at +5 through eight holes of round two, including her first birdie of the tournament. The final folder of the day for the Cardinals was junior Brielle Milhoan, who shot 92 (+21) in the first round and was sitting at +6 through the first seven holes of round two.