The Irvine Valley women's golf team continued to prep for what should be a competitive Orange Empire Conference schedule by competing in the Desert Classic last weekend in Palm Springs.
Irvine Valley finished sixth in the event with a two-day team score of 687.
The Lasers shot 340 on the opening day last Friday and then 343 on Saturday at Indian Canyons Golf Resort.
"The team needed these two days of competitive golf to continue to ready itself for upcoming conference tournaments," Irvine Valley coach Ben Burnett said. "Although I am very pleased to be 7-1 in conference after our first match, it appears that we will battle all season with Mt. Sac and Palomar to finish behind defending state champion College of the Desert."
Palomar finished fifth and Mt. San Jacinto was sixth at the Desert Classic.
Santa Barbara City won the event with a score of 600. Citrus was second at 633 and Mt. SAC came in third at 641.
"Although we played in this tournament without our top golfer, Hyerin Kim, the team showed improvement," Burnett said. "I was pleased that my three sophomores appear to be rounding into posting
competitive scores."
Sophomore Rebecca Peng led the team in posting a first day score of 82. She followed that up with an impressive 2 over par 74 on the final day of the tournament.
Team captain and sophomore Liliana Gutierrez had two rounds of 84 and sophomore Stuti Mandal had two scores in the high 80's.
Irvine Valley plays again in a conference match on Wednesday. The match is at Sycuan and hosted by Cuyamaca.
