Mount Olive's Urquiola to Represent ConfCarolinas at NCAA DII Women's Golf South Super Regional

5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

-courtesy of Mount Olive Sports Information-
-see below NCAA press release below-

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. - Mount Olive College golfer Valentina Urquiola is one of only 16 individuals nationwide to earn a bid to the 2012 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championship, becoming the first women's golfer in school history to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Urquiola will compete in the South Super Regional Sunday-Tuesday at Stonebrook Golf Course in Pace, Fla. The 54-hole Super Regional is hosted by University of West Florida.

Urquiola, a senior from Santome, Venezuela, is a four-time All-Conference Carolinas selection and was the 2012 Conference Carolinas Women's Golfer of the Year. She earned All-Tournament honors for the third time at this year's Conference Carolinas Women's Golf Championship as she helped lead Mount Olive to a second-place team finish, the Trojans' best-ever finish.

“I’m really excited and proud for Val,” said Trojan head coach Chip Spiron, who was named Conference Carolinas Women’s Golf Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. “It’s a great accomplishment and it’s not only a reflection on her, but also a reflection on our team and the direction that our program is going. I’m hoping this is the beginning of a yearly trip for Mount Olive women’s golf, not just for one of our individual golfers but to get a bid to compete as a team.”

For Urquiola, her selection to the NCAA Tournament is almost bittersweet. Playing in the regional will cause Urquiola to miss her graduation Saturday, which is the day of the pre-tournament practice round. She even considered declining the NCAA bid so she could be at graduation.

"Earning my degree and playing in an NCAA Tournament are the two biggest things I wanted to accomplish here," said Urquiola. "I was torn between walking at graduation and playing in the regional."

Urquiola says she asked her parents what she should do and they told her the decision was entirely up to her. She also asked her friends and the responses varied depending on whether the friend played a sport or didn't play a sport.

"Those who play a sport here told me I have to go to the NCAA Tournament," said Urquiola. "Those who don't play a sport told me I can't miss out on my graduation."

After much soul searching, she came to a decision.

"I started thinking that if I passed up on the NCAA Tournament, I’d always wonder what would have happened."

Urquiola hopes the NCAA Tournament can be a springboard to a professional career. Her plans are to play in the LPGA Q-School in September. The Q-School is a three-stage qualifier to join the LPGA Tour.

"As an athlete, I always want to improve and get better and better. I can’t pass up this opportunity."

A visual communications major, Urquiola knows that she has a graphic design background to fall back on.

“My parents want me to be able to play pro golf, but they told me not until after I earn my college degree,” said Urquiola.

Ideally, Urquiola hopes to be able to combine golf and graphic design, use her artistic talents to market herself beyond the golf course, such as current LPGA stars Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis.

While Urquiola is excited about competing in the NCAA Tournament, she is equally excited about what Mount Olive accomplished as a team this year.

"I feel like throughout my four years here, the team has gotten better each year," said Urquiola. "Although golf is an individual sport, we've really come together as a team. We all try to help each other and we're closer this year than we've ever been."

Urquiola’s NCAA Tournament selection and conference player of the year award are two of three firsts for Mount Olive women’s golfers in the past 10 days. Fellow senior Tegan Skirpstas won the individual title at the 2012 Conference Carolinas Women’s Golf Championship, becoming the first Trojan golfer – women or men – to win an individual conference golf title since Mount Olive became a four-year college in 1985.

“I was so thrilled for Tegan to win,” said Urquiola. “She has worked so hard and for her to win the conference championship in her final tournament was very special.”

Urquiola is among four individual golfers competing in the South Super Regional, which also includes nine teams. The other three individuals are from Armstrong, Carson-Newman and Columbus State. Urquiola is Conference Carolinas' lone representative in the regional, individual or team.

The top three teams, along with the top three individuals not on qualifying teams, advance to the National Championship May 16-19 at Louisville, Ky., as part of the NCAA Division II Spring Sports Festival.

Urquiola had hoped to have some time to relax in between her final exam and Saturday’s graduation. Now she’ll be busy with practice and four years’ worth of packing.

“I was hoping for a little break,” said Urquiola. “Now it’s kind of stressful.”

But the stress of packing is quickly giving way to the excitement of playing in the NCAA Tournament.

“I feel like it’s a great accomplishment,” said Urquiola. “I’m very excited to play. It’s a great tournament, a great course and getting to play in Florida, great weather. I’m anxious to see how things go.”

-MOC-

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http://www.ncaa.com/news/golf-women/article/2012-04-30/regional-selections-announced

Regional selections announced