SUN CITY WEST, Ariz. -- It was a day of joy and heartbreak for Vanguard women's golf, who swung through their emotions like a pendulum on a clock.  VU started the day in third, five shots back of the leading Hope International Royals, with OUAZ in the way in second at the start of Wednesday.  Though the deficit to the top spot grew as the morning wore on, up to 17 shots at one point, the Lions closed out the day on a heater, and the squad ended tied with the Royals on 931 strokes after the last group came home. 

Though crowned as Co-Golden State Athletic Conference Champions, necessity dictated that a playoff must be conducted to determine which team would get the GSAC's automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament.  Unfortunately, the joy of the championship would be slightly diminished by the Royals taking the playoff, but VU leaves the GSAC with its second tournament laurel in program history.  Individually, Brooklyn Motske picked up an All-Conference selection, the first in her career. 
 
What Happened?  The Blue and Gold had a team-low 307 on Wednesday, the best round of the day and the third-lowest at the championships.  HIU shot a 312 and OUAZ had a 318 on the final day to net a 938 for the event to end in third.  Jessup's Jessica Burdick won the individual crown with a 224 for the event.
 
For the playoff, five players from each side played the 10th hole and the top-four scores from each team were counted.  If the squads were tied after that, the teams would have gone on to the 11th hole.  The top golfer on each side went off last as a pair, while the others went in groups of four.  The results trickled in and after the final put, HIU beat Vanguard by one shot to take the automatic qualifier.
 
Annabell Le led VU at the vent and placed fourth with a combined tally of 227 (+11).  She had the lowest round of Wednesday with an even-par 72, using three birdies and 12 pars to net her lowest round of her season.  She concluded the tournament tied for sixth in par three performance (+4) and tied for first in par four performance at +4.  She had 34 pars, which was tied for third out of the field, and five birdies, also tied for third.
 
After moving into a tie yesterday, both Motske and Tigilau shot equal rounds of 78 to finish tied for eighth with 235 shots for the tournament.  Tigilau had a birdie on the ninth hole and 11 pars during her third round, while Motske had two birdies and 10 pars.  Motske concluded the event tied with Le in par three performance (+4) and birdies (five).  She had 31 pars, which was seventh out of the field.  Tigilau was eighth with 30 pars, had three birdies, the only eagle of the tournament, and was tied for seventh in par five performance at +2.
 
Zoee Lynch had eight pars on Wednesday to collect a round of 82, giving her a total of 237 for the championship, good for 12th overall.  Lynch had 31 pars to tie Motske, one birdie, tied Le and Motske in par three performance (+4), and tied Tigilau on par five performance (+2).  Shanaya Neru had a birdie on the seventh hole and nine pars to garner a 79 for her third round, which gave her 240 strokes for the tournament.  The freshman finished her first GSAC tournament in 18th.  She tied Tigilau with 30 pars, had two birdies, and also was knotted with Tigilau and Lynch at +2 on par-five holes for the event.
 
As a team, VU was third in par three scoring (+25), first in par four scoring (+56), and tied with HIU for par five scoring (+13).  The Lions had the most pars of the seven teams with 156 and had 16 birdies.
 
What was Said?  "I am so proud of these girls," said Head Coach Jeff Anderson.  "They were consistent every day and they never wavered out on the course.  They were confident in every shot and did it not just for themselves, but for each other.  We played through the end and made an incredible 17-stroke comeback on day three to be co-champions, which speaks to not only talent, but the camaraderie that this group has."