Lady Vols in good shape at SEC golf championship

Nathalie Mansson's play mirrored Tennessee's day during the first round of the SEC Women's Golf Championships.

Mansson rebounded from a 4-over-par 40 on her first nine holes, the back nine at Cobblestone Park Golf Club in Blythewood, S.C., to fire a 4-under 31. Her 71 was good enough for a fourth-place tie.

UT recovered in similar fashion Friday, overcoming an 11-over start on its first nine holes by shooting even-par thereafter. The Lady Vols are tied for second with Arkansas at 295.

Auburn leads the team standings at 289. Mississippi's Ashley Lance, Auburn's Haley Wilson and Arkansas' Lucy Nunn are tied for the individual lead at 70.

"We've been working on finishing our rounds lately,'' Lady Vols coach Judi Pavon said. "At our last few practices and our last few rounds, we let those last four or five holes get away. So we wanted to focus on that and almost all of the girls finished well today."

Mansson bounced back from hitting her tee shot into the water on her second hole.

"I hit some good shots all day, but I missed some ups and downs and put the ball in the water on my first nine,'' she said. "I put the ball much closer to the flag over my last nine holes."

Lady Vols Diana Cantu and Ginny Brown are tied for 17th at 74. Nicole Smith is tied for 25th (76) and Lauren Spurlock is tied for 31st (77).

"It feels good to be in second,'' Mansson said. "We just need to keep it up. We still have one more place to move up to."

Men's Golf: Tennessee shot a 17-over 305 and is 11th after the first round of the SEC Men's Golf Championships at the Frederica Golf Club on St. Simons Island, Ga.

Tennessee is 23 strokes behind first-round leader Georgia and leading only defending champion Alabama after the first 18 holes, which were played in windy conditions.

David Holmes was the Vols' individual leader after shooting a 75, which left him tied for 28th. Chris Paisley is tied for 32nd (76) while Darren Renwick and Robin Wingardh are tied for 40th (77). Cameron Lawrence is 59th (83).

Women's Tennis: No. 13 Tennessee (15-4, 8-2 SEC) plays for a share of the first SEC championship in program history when it plays No. 2 Georgia (19-2, 9-1) at noon today at the UT Varsity Courts.

Although Georgia clinched a share of the championship by beating Kentucky last Sunday, the Lady Vols have a chance to be co-champions and earn the No. 1 seed for the SEC tournament.

Before the match, the Lady Vols will honor their lone senior - Samantha Orlin.