Oct. 7, 2010

CONWAY, S.C. - The Coastal Carolina women's golf team takes part in its third tournament of the fall this weekend when the Chanticleers travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to compete in the Mercedes-Benz Women's Collegiate Championships.

The tournament is hosted by the University of Tennessee and will take place at the par-72 Holston Hills Country Club. The Chanticleers tee off from hole 10 Friday morning at 9 a.m. and will be paired with UNC Greensboro and James Madison.

The event will also support National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and each participating team will receive pink ribbons to display on its bags. On Saturday, every team will wear pink for a "Pink Out" promotion.

This year's Mercedes-Benz Women's Collegiate Championship features an extremely deep field, as nine of the 15 teams are ranked in top 50 of the Golfweek poll led by 14th-ranked Notre Dame. Other ranked teams include Arkansas (18), Kent State (19), TCU (23), Tennessee (36), Ole Miss (38), Chattanooga (44), Coastal Carolina (46) and Georgia State (49).

"We are excited to play in such a prestigious event for the first time," Coastal head coach Katie Quinney said. "It's going to be an exciting challenge to go up against some of the top teams and talent in the country."

The individual field is just as impressive, led by Notre Dame's Nicole Zhang, who currently holds the No. 2 ranking in Golfweek's individual ratings. The Arkansas duo of Emily Tubert and Kelli Shean enter the weekend ranked 20th and 29th, respectively. Martina Gavier of Kent State is ranked 24th, Charlotte Lorentzen of Georgia State stands 35th and Sanna Nuutinen of TCU is ranked 43rd.

Coastal sophomore Jessica Alexander is the top ranked Chanticleer and is ranked 146th by the publication.

The Chanticleers have competed in two previous tournaments prior to this weekend and opened the year with a first place finish at the JU Labor Day Shootout Sept. 6. Most recently, the Chants tied for 15th at the Golfweek Conference Challenge Sept. 26-28.