Women’s golf
Freshman opens tournament with three-shot lead
Freshman Lee Lopez sank eight birdies to finish the opening round atop the leaderboard at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown on Monday.
The freshman, who played a bogey-free round, carded an 8-under 64 round at the Boulder Creek Golf Club and leads second-place finishers Cindy LaCrosse, Pernilla Lindberg and Lisa McCloskey by three shots.
Lopez paced Long Beach State, which recorded a 3-under-par 285 score to finish five shots off the lead in sixth place. Louisville and Pepperdine lead the field at 8-under 280.
Senior All-American Kay Hoey, ranked No. 55 in the nation, finished the round in a tie for 26th place with an even-par 72 score for the 49ers.
The second round will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Hoey will tee off at approximately 8:34 a.m. and Lopez will start at 8:42 a.m.
Men’s basketball
Morris named to All-American team
Shooting guard Donovan Morris was named an honorable mention on the CollegeHoops.net Preseason Mid-Major All-American team on Monday.
The senior was honored alongside 31 other NCAA basketball players, including Davidson shooting guard Stephen Curry, who led the Wildcats to an improbable Elite Eight run in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
Morris led the 49ers with 21.2 points per game, while also averaged a team-high 5.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
Women’s volleyball
Verdin earns first Player of the Week nod
Senior outside hitter Quincy Verdin received the first Big West Conference Player of the Week honor of her four-year career on Monday.
Verdin led the 49ers to three home wins last week, including a career-high outing of 21 kills against Notre Dame. She capped off her week with 13 kills in a 3-0 thumping of UC Davis on Friday, before tallying 12 more in a 3-0 sweep of the University of the Pacific on Saturday.
Verdin is the second 49er to earn the award in the last three weeks, with freshman outside hitter Caitlin Ledoux being the recipient two weeks ago.