GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- With five top-5 finishes to their credit, including a pair of tournament victories, the Tusculum College women's golf team will be competing at the 2016 South Atlantic Conference Championship. The three-day, 54-hole tournament will be held at the Monroe Country Club this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in Monroe, North Carolina.

Tusculum head coach Bob Dibble and the Pioneers will be vying for their third SAC championship when play begins on Sunday at the par-72, 5,981-yard layout.

Leading the Pioneers is two-time All-South Atlantic Conference first team selection Ciara Rattana. Rattana, a sophomore from Chicago, Illinois, leads the Pioneers in scoring with her 78.58 stroke average which is fourth-best in the league. She has recorded six top-20 finishes in her eight events, including four times in the top-10 and twice in the top-five. The 2015 SAC Freshman of the Year finished runner-up at the Pioneer Classic, which included a season-low round 73 on the final day of the tournament. She tied for third place honors at the Tusculum Fall Classic and posted a pair of seventh place finishes at the Patsy Rendleman Invitational and the Agnes McAmis Memorial. Her 78.55 career stroke average is currently second in program history. She finished 13th at last year's league championship where she posted a 54-hole total 240.

Katie Tomassoni, a freshman from Mason, Ohio, will be making her SAC Championship debut on Sunday. Tomassoni is second on the team with her 79.94 scoring average which is the ninth lowest by a Pioneer and the third-best by a TC rookie. She has logged four top-10 finished, including three times in the top-five and earned All-SAC honorable mention accolades. She finished third in each of her first two collegiate events at the Tusculum Fall Classic and the Patsy Rendleman Invitational. Tomassoni posted a 27-hole total 76-37=113 at the weather-abbreviated TC Fall Classic. She followed with back-to-back rounds of 74 to shot 148 at the Rendleman Invitational. She also finished third at the Pioneer Classic with 152, including an opening round 73 which was a season-low. She posted a seventh place showing at the McAmis Memorial to close out the regular season.

Senior Calley Lawson will be playing in her fourth and final SAC Championship. She has an 84.37 scoring average this year which includes a pair of top-20 performances. The Gaithersburg, Maryland native tied for 12th place at the Pioneer Classic and 15th at the Tusculum Fall Classic. Her career scoring average of 86.30 is currently the 15th-lowest in program history. Of her three previous SAC Championship appearances her 254 at the 2013 tournament was her best as she tied for 18th place.

Junior Taylor Lambertsen has played in two previous SAC Championships. The Palos Park, Illinois product has an 84.00 scoring average while playing in all eight events this season where she has four top-20 performances, including twice in the top-10 and one top-five finish. Her best finish came at the Pioneer Classic where she placed fifth with a two-day total 160. She tied for eighth place at the Converse Spring Invitational with 79-80=159 and placed 11th at the Tusculum Fall Classic. Her 84.04 career scoring average is 11th in program history. She finished 32nd at last year's SAC Championship and tied for 18th place at the 2014 event.

Freshman Taylor White will also be playing in her inaugural SAC Championship. White, a native of Kingsport, Tennessee, has recorded two top-20 finished, including a 10th-place showing at the Pioneer Classic. White's best round of the year came at the Tusculum Fall Classic as she carded a 78 en route to finishing 12th in her first collegiate event.

The Pioneers won the first two SAC Women's Golf Championships held by the league in 2000 and 2001. Tusculum finished runner-up at 2013 championship.

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