OPELIKA, Ala. – The Maryland women's golf team started strong in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Regional on Monday. The Terrapins are tied for fifth in the 18-team field and sophomore Virunpat Olankitkunchai is currently tied for the lead.
 
The Terrapins are tied with No. 42 Tennessee for fifth with a score of 294, which was six strokes over. Maryland, ranked No. 52 in the current GolfStat rankings, leads No. 13 Auburn, No. 17 Virginia, No. 27 Clemson and No. 38 Alabama.
 
Olankitkunchai went two-under par Monday with a 70. She is tied with Vanderbilt's Auston Kim and Tennessee's Micheala Williams for the individual lead.Olankitkunchai was even through the first nine holes, then birdied the 14^th and 15^th holes.
 
Sophomore Laura Van Respaille is tied for 14^th and is one stroke over par with a 73. She birdied the 10^th, 12^th and 17^th holes to help the Terrapins.
 
Junior Xiaolin Tian finished three strokes over with a 75 on the day and senior Ludovica Farina was four strokes over par with a 76.
 
Freshman Elena Verticchio finished with an 81, which was +9.

This is the fifth all-time trip to regionals for the Terrapins and a first for head coach Diana Cantu.
 
The Terrapins received a 13-seed in the Auburn region and are playing at the Saugahatchee Country Club in Opelika, Ala. The Regional take place through Wednesday to determine who advances to the championship field. The low six teams and three individuals not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals.
 
The Terps will tee off in the second round at 9:00 a.m. CT Tuesday. The third and final round will start Wednesday at 8 a.m. CT.  
 
Live stats are available here.
 
 
The full lineup for the Auburn Regional is below.
 

1. Duke University
2. Vanderbilt University
3. Florida State University
4. Auburn University
5. University of Virginia
6. Furman University (Southern Conference)
7. Clemson University 
8. University of Houston (American Athletic Conference)
9. Kennesaw State University (Atlantic Sun Conference)
10. University of Alabama
11. University of Tennessee, Knoxville
12. University of California, Berkeley
13. University of Maryland, College Park
14. East Carolina University
15. University of Denver (The Summit League)
16. University of South Alabama (Sun Belt Conference)
17. University at Albany (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
18. Murray State University (Ohio Valley Conference)   

 
The last time out, Terps finished 8^th of 14 in the Big Ten Championships.​ ​Sophomore Virunpat Olankitkunchai finished tied for fifth and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team and All-Big Ten Championship Team.
 
The national championships will be May 17-22 at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas hosted by the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.