Middle Tennessee tied for fourth at UALR Women's Golf Classic

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Led by under-par rounds from both Karisa Akin and Ashley Haggard, the Middle Tennessee women's golf team is tied for fourth (out of 19) after two rounds of play at the annual UALR Women's Golf Classic on Monday at Diamante Country Club in Hot Springs, Ark.

The Blue Raiders recorded team rounds of 299 and 302 to end the day tied with host UALR at 601, just five strokes off of Oral Roberts for the tournament lead.

"We have to get our fourth and fifth scores lower," head coach Chris Adams said. "We had good rounds at the top of the line-up, and we're just one good score off from leading the tournament. We made a lot of putts today, but we certainly left some shots out there. Being in the hunt on the last day is all you can ask for."

Individually, Akin had a day to remember and currently sits a stroke off the lead at even par after carding an opening two-over 74 and a two-under 70, tying for the best round of the event. The senior also recorded the rare hole-in-one on the 12th hole in the morning round.

Haggard is also in the top 10, sitting tied for eighth in the 99-player field with a three-over 147. The junior posted a one-under 71 in the first round.

"You have to be happy any time you get under-par rounds," Adams said. "The conditions were absolutely perfect, and Ashley had a really good first round. I'm really impressed with Karisa after having the hole-in-one in the first round, she kept it together with nice second round."

Allie Knight and Olivia Love are tied for 38th and 87th, respectively at nine-over and 16-over.

Natalie Chrisopulos improved nine strokes from her first set of 18, but ended the day tied for 87th at 19-over. Haley Cothran is competing in the event as an individual and is also tied for 87th.

The final round of play at the UALR Women's Golf Classic will tee off on Tuesday morning. Live scoring is not available via Golfstat.com.

Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter @MTAthletics for continued updates.