ATHENS, Ga. – No. 12 Illinois bounced back with a solid team effort in Round 2 of the NCAA Athens Regional at University of Georgia Golf Course on Tuesday. Four Illini shot under par, led by senior Ryan Voois’ 67 (-4) and junior Dane Huddleston’s 68 (-3), and the Orange and Blue posted the second-best team score of the day with a 9-under 275.
“We had some resiliency today,” head coach Mike Small said. “I think Dane (Huddleston) having a good round was big – going off first and shooting 3-under-par. We were struggling a little bit early, and the guys made notice of that and they responded well.
“We had two guys that shot three- and four-under today, and then a couple of other guys followed suit, and it was a better team effort.”
Illinois will enter tomorrow’s finale alone in seventh place at 559 (-9), just two strokes behind No. 24 BYU (-11) in the fifth spot. The College of Charleston (-10) also sits one stroke ahead of the Illini in the chase for one of five berths into the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, Calif.
The Illini’s 275 (-9) in Round 2 was bested only by 36-hole leader and 13th-ranked Vanderbilt. The Commodores (-22) carded a 15-under in Round 2 and hold a three-stroke lead over No. 36 Louisville (-19). No. 1-ranked Auburn (-14) is third, followed by host and 26-ranked Georgia (-12) just one stroke ahead of fifth-place BYU (-11).
“We’re digging ourselves out of the hole,” Small added. “We got our hands out above the ground right now, and we’re starting to peek out of the hole, but we need to pull ourselves out of it all day tomorrow.”
Voois made the Illini’s biggest jump on the individual leaderboard, moving up 23 spots in Round 2 thanks to six birdies that offset a double-bogey on No. 7, his only setback of the day. Huddleston (E) was one shot off Voois’ pace, as he tallied five birdies and improved by six strokes over his opening round of 74 (+3) to 21 spots up the standings. He enters Round 3 in a tie for 31st.
Junior Max Herendeen, who followed his Round 1 69 (-2) with a 1-under 70, is tied with Voois at T16. Herendeen has now posted under-par scores in eight NCAA Regional rounds of his Illini career.
Sophomore Trey Marrion (-2) also carded a 1-under 70, for the second straight round, and sits in a tie for 21st, while classmate Freddie Turnell sits four strokes behind Huddleston in a tie for 52nd after back-to-back rounds of 73.
Wednesday’s final round is set to tee off beginning at 8 a.m. ET/7 a.m. CT. The Illini, paired with eight-place Northwestern (-5) and ninth-place Harvard (-3), will start off Hole 1 beginning at 8:55 a.m. ET/7:55 a.m. CT. Live scoring is available on Clippd Scoreboard. Streaming coverage is also available via subscription on BabygrandeGolf.com.
