CONWAY – The Coastal Carolina University women's golf team will head to Ohio for the Columbus Regional, which will be hosted by The Ohio State University on May 10-12 at the Ohio State Golf Club Scarlet Course. The Chanticleers are the No. 15 seed in the NCAA Regional which will be led by top-seeded Duke.

It's the eighth time head coach Katie Quinney has led the Chanticleers into the NCAA Regional Championship and the first time since 2018 when CCU played in the Tallahassee Regional.
 
The Chanticleers will be led by sophomore Sophia Carlsen, the reigning 2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship individual medalist. The Aalsgaared, Denmark native has made a huge improvement in her game, knocking almost four strokes off her per-round average from last year. She is the only Chant to see action in all 10 matches this season and has been the team's most consistent golfer during the spring finishing as the team's low score leader or second low scorer in five of the seven matches.
 
Freshman Nicole Abelar enters the regional as CCU's low scorer during the spring. After missing the fall season, the Metro Manila, Philippines native jumped right into the action and finished second in her first collegiate event at the Battle at Old South. She then set school records at the River Landing Classic shooting a program-record 11-under 205, which included rounds of 68 and 67. The five-under 67 was also a program record. Abelar also finished second, just two strokes behind Carleson at the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship. She enters the regional with team-best 72.71 stroke average.
 
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, junior Tiffany Arafi missed the entire fall season and it took a few matches for her to get back into playing shape. As the spring has worked forward so has her game and she is beginning to play like the Arafi of old. She is coming off a sixth-place finish at the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship and was CCU's low-scorer at the ECU Easter Invitational. Over the past four events, Arafi has six rounds of par-or-better scoring which includes four rounds of below-par scoring. She has a 72.72 scoring average over those four events and enters the regional with a 74.29 stroke average.
 
The lone senior on the team is Frantiska Lunackova, who is also the lone leftover from the last regional championship the Chants played in back in 2018. Like several other players, as the spring wore on she played better. The Tyn Nad Vltavou, Czech Republic native is coming off an even-par performance that placed her ninth at the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship. She finished the regular season with a team-best three top-10 finishes. She also added a top-20 finish and has a 75.38 stroke average entering the regional championship.
 
Caitlin Evans-Brand has been up-and-down this season. She has one top-10 and one top-20 finish to go along with her three rounds of par-or-better scoring. She finished tied for seventh at the Battle at Old South tournament and tied for 16th at the River Landing Classic. She enters the regional championship with a 76.0 stroke average.
 
There will be four regional championships which will showcase 18 teams and six individuals. The top six teams of each regional championship and the low three individuals (not on one of the top six teams) will advance to the NCAA National Championship which will be played in Scottsdale, Ariz., at the Grayhawk Golf Club, May 21-26.
 
Following Duke in rounding out the top-10 at the Columbus Regional are Arizona State, Virginia, Kent State, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Michigan, Clemson, Oklahoma, and Kentucky.
 
Illinois, New Mexico, Nebraska, Washington, and CCU finish out the top-15, while Campbell, Evansville, and Youngstown State round out the 18-team field.
 
For complete coverage of CCU women's golf, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalWGolf (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.