Mississippi State set for NCAA Championship

STARKVILLE – The No. 23 Mississippi State Bulldogs take on 29 other teams in the NCAA Championship, which kicks off on Friday. The Bulldogs hit the tee box at 9:02 a.m. CT.

State will tee off in their program record third consecutive NCAA Championship on Friday. The Bulldogs are one of 14 programs in the nation to appear in each of the last three NCAA Championships.

The Bulldogs will be paired with No. 22 Virginia and No. 21 Pepperdine in the opening round. The Cavaliers of Virginia are led into the tournament by Amanda Sambach, the No. 7 ranked individual in collegiate golf. Pepperdine enters the championship with two golfers in the top 100, No. 34 Jeneath Wong and No. 62 Lauren Gomez.

Julia Lopez Ramirez will compete with each team's top performers, as she is paired with Gomez and Sambach. Lopez Ramirez, the No. 2 collegiate golfer, enters her third NCAA Championship after finishing in the top three in her last three tournaments, including wins at the SEC Championship and Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. When she tees off, she will become the first Mississippi State Bulldog to appear in three NCAA Championships.

Avery Weed settles into the two spot for the Dawgs. Weed will make her NCAA Championship debut but doesn't lack tournament experience, as she has competed in every event for State this season. She is the only Bulldog on the roster to do such this season. She will be matched up with Pepperdine's Wong and Virginia's Celeste Valinho.

Izzy Pellot shoots third for the Bulldogs in her second NCAA Championship appearance. Pellot was essential in securing an automatic tournament bid. She was a perfect 3-0 in match play at the SEC Championship, leading the program to their first conference title. Pellot will be paired with Pepperdine's Lion Higo and Virginia's Jaclyn LaHa.

Surapa Janthamunee will tee off in her second NCAA Championship, matched up with Virginia's Megan Propeck and Pepperdine's Kaleiya Romero. At the Bermuda Run Regional, SJ was excellent. The sophomore tied her career-best round at 5-under par to earn her third career top-10 finish. She finished 3-under par in the first and second rounds, marking the first time she recorded back-to-back rounds in the 60s in her career.

Chiara Horder rounds out the lineup for State. She will make her second NCAA Championship appearance and her first as a Bulldog. Last season, Horder fell just short of an individual spot for Texas Tech, as she shot 4-under par in the final round of stroke play to force a playoff for the final spot. Horder will golf alongside Virginia's Rebecca Skoler and Pepperdine's Yingzhi Zhu.

Tee times begin with Mississippi State at 9:02 a.m. CT and last until 4:34 p.m. CT. The field will play three rounds before being cut from 30 teams to 15. Those 15 will then play a fourth round on Monday, with the top eight teams advancing to match play on Tuesday for the semifinal and quarterfinal matchups. The title match will take place on Wednesday.

Live scoring for the NCAA Championship is available at golfstat.com. NBC's Golf Channel will provide live coverage of the tournament beginning on Thursday.

La Costa Champions Course
Friday, May 17 – Wednesday, May 22
Par 72
Yardage: 6,297

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on women's golf. Fans can also follow the program on social media by searching 'HailStateWG' on X, Facebook and Instagram.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Mississippi State set for NCAA Championship

Players Mentioned

Chiara Horder

Surapa Janthamunee

Julia Lopez Ramirez

Izzy Pellot

Avery Weed

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