In the eyes of Michigan State women’s golf coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, her team didn’t get to the NCAA championship this week by happenstance. It willed this into existence.
She’s got a point. Michigan State faced elimination entering the final day of the North Carolina NCAA Regional last week, before the Spartans shot the day’s best score of 2-over par to force a three-team playoff. With the final two spots in the NCAA championship on the line, Michigan State finished off the comeback to make its fourth straight team appearance at the NCAA Championship and its sixth straight year sending at least one representative.
“I’ve always believed that everything happens for a reason, and if you believe that something can happen, there’s a much better chance that something will,” Slobodnik-Stoll told The Detroit News, amid the Spartans’ practice round at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. “So, I believe we are meant to be here.”
Organizationally, Michigan State expects to compete in the NCAA championship, which pits the top 30 golf programs in the country against one another. Three rounds of stroke play determine a top 15, who play alongside the top nine individuals not on a qualifying team to determine the NCAA individual champion. Then the top eight teams move on to two days of match play to determine a team champion.
This is Michigan State’s 18th appearance at the NCAA championship all-time, and the 16th since Slobodnik-Stoll became head coach in 1997.
“Every year that we’re here, we understand — and I tell the team — you’ve earned this opportunity, but this is the pinnacle of your career,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “I mean, we’re among the top 30 teams in the nation, the best 30 teams in the country. We have a chance to prove what we think we’re really capable of.”
Michigan State finished outside the top 15 in its last six NCAA championship appearances since finishing ninth in 2013. That was when Christine Meier and Caroline Powers (now Powers Ellis, and an assistant coach after three years leading Notre Dame’s program) helped the Spartans to what remains the best finish in program history.
Yet for Michigan State, what makes its NCAA championship consistency stand out is the way some of its teams tend to overachieve based on the external expectations. The top five teams at an NCAA regional are the favorites to move on to the NCAA championships. Michigan State has advanced seven times to the NCAA championship when seeded outside the top five. That includes this year’s seventh-seeding at the North Carolina regional.
In that regard, this year’s Spartans were a bit of an unknown commodity, even late in the season. Two of its top contributors last year, Brooke Biermann and Katie Lu, graduated and left a big hole in the lineup. Like any program, Michigan State first looked to its elder statesmen, as Taylor Kehoe stayed on as a senior and currently ranks 68th in the nation, while fellow upperclassmen Ana Sofia Murcia and Paula Balanzategui are also contributors.
The key, though, has been the growth of MSU’s youth movement. True freshmen, Lucia Valderrama and Sarisa Pojanalai, from Spain and Thailand, respectively, penned the second- and third-best cards for Michigan State in the regional. Sophomore transfer Grace Vetter, from Germany, is also in the mix after spending her first year at Queens.
“Our two freshmen have come, I mean, leaps and bounds since they got here in August, and we’re just so proud of them,” Slobodnik-Stoll said.
“You have players that have not ever lived in the U.S., the two freshmen. Sometimes it’s about the culture, and it’s about understanding our system, and what our beliefs are, and how we do things. And a lot of these international players are never on an actual golf team, they’ve just played golf themselves with their teacher, and so that’s a new experience. Also again, they’re among players that are equal or better than themselves, so being challenged that way is also a new experience for them. So there’s a lot going on, and then they have school, and oh, by the way, we expect to be one of the best teams academically in this country as well. So there’s a lot being thrown at them.”
For those who are experienced on Michigan State’s roster, playing at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa should be familiar. The previous two NCAA championship meets were also played there. This is a course that the players and coaches know quite well.
“You just kind of know the tendencies of the golf course, and that’s really helpful,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “Although this year the condition of the golf course is a little different than what we’ve seen. The greens are a lot more receptive, so again, there is a little bit of a learning curve every time we’re out here, because the course conditions do change.”
Five of the Spartans’ six contributors are expected back next season, which makes a run like this year’s even more promising. In a way, this is house money, but Michigan State doesn’t take its opportunity lightly.
Michigan State wants to break through to the top 15 once again, but with such a young team there’s a lot to draw on from playing among the best golfers in the country.
“It’s, again, just instilling in each of them what the expectations are for this program,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “We have very high expectations in everything we do. We want these players to have fun and really understand, put their head on the pillow every night and understand what they accomplished, because getting through a regional is not easy. … Being here again (at Omni) for the third year, we’ve been at nationals the last six years. It’s pretty awesome what we’re doing.”
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@ConnorEaregood
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Comeback no fluke as MSU golfers play in another NCAA championship
Reporting by Connor Earegood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
