All good things must come to an end and on Saturday in San Antonio, ASU women's golf's NCAA streak came to a crashing halt.
The Sun Devils finished the 54-hole regional in ninth place overall, which was not enough for the team to qualify for the NCAA Championships for a 24th consecutive season.
The 23-year streak began in 1992 when the team was coached by Linda Vollstedt. Vollstedt guided ASU to six national championships in the 1990s but retired following the 2000-01 season.
Current head coach Melissa Luellen began in the 2002-03 season, where in her 13 seasons, led the Sun Devils to six top-five NCAA finishes, including a national championship in 2008-09.
Although the team was eliminated, sophomore Monica Vaughn advances to the NCAA Championships as an individual. Vaughn finished 4-under, good for a tie for sixth. She began the third round in a tie for 19th, but a 3-under final round, consisting of four birdies and one bogey, pushed her up the leaderboard.
Senior Noemi Jimenez, playing as the team's No. 1 golfer, placed in a tie for 34rd after a 4-over third round dropped her 19 spots.
Roberta Liti started the final round with a double bogey, but the freshman was able to convert five birdies in the round to finish it at even par and 1-over for the regional.
Freshman Sophia Zeeb finished 11-over on Briggs Ranch's par-72 course, but was 6-over on the back nine on Saturday. Fellow freshman Ashleigh Greenham was 17-over and was ASU's drop score in the first two rounds.
Baylor (22-under) won the regional and Hayley Davis captured the regional crown with a 16-under performance.
List of ASU's NCAA finishes during streak:
1992: 9
1993: 1
1994: 1
1995: 1
1996: 6
1997: 1
1998: 1
1999: T-2
2000: T-11
2001: 18
2002: T-9
2003: 18
2004: 10
2005: T-8
2006: 4
2007: 13
2008: 5
2009: 1
2010: 4
2011: 17
2012: T-6
2013: 5
2014: 5
Reach the reporter at jmjanss1@asu.edu or follow @jjanssen11 on Twitter
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