East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's women's golf team continues its postseason on Monday, May 6, serving s the host for the NCAA East Lansing Regional at Forest Akers West.

The three-day, 54-hole event will be played from Monday, May 6 to Wednesday, May 8 at MSU's home course, the par-72, 6,370-yard Forest Akers West Course.

This the second time in the last five years that the Spartans have served as the host for an NCAA Regional, the last in 2019.

The Spartans tee off at 9 a.m., playing with Pepperdine and Kentucky.

Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.

THE LINEUP
3. Paula Balanzategui
2. Katie Lu
1. Brooke Biermann
4. Leila Raines
6. Valentina Rossi
5. Shannon Kennedy
 
THE NCAA EAST LANSING REGIONAL FIELD
The 12 teams competing in the East Lansing Regional include, in order of seed: 1. Southern California; 2. Northwestern; 3. Florida; 4. Pepperdine; 5. Michigan State; 6. Kentucky; 7. Denver; 8. Oklahoma State; 9. Indiana; 10. Augusta; 11. Illinois State and 12. Oakland.
 
The field also includes six individual competitors – Isabel Sy (Illinois), Catie Craig (Western Kentucky), Lauren Beaudreau (Notre Dame), Carmen Griffiths and Hana Ryskova (Louisville) and Kate Petrova (Evansville).
Michigan State will be making its 24th NCAA Regional appearance since 1999, all under Slobodnik-Stoll.
 
STARTING FIVE

• The Spartans are making their eighth-straight NCAA Regional appearance and the program's 24th since 1999.
• Michigan State is ranked No. 30 in the country in the latest NCAA Division I Rankings.
• MSU is coming off a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championships.
• The Spartans, who won the Briar's Creek Invitational on March 12 (4-under par 860) have posted seven top-5 team finishes this season and are ranked No. 30 in the country in the latest NCAA Rankings.
• Junior Katie Lu was named All-Big Ten First Team last week … Lu has been the top player for the Spartans this year, carrying a team-best 71.13 scoring average over 32 rounds and 11 events.
• Her scoring average currently ranks as the second-best single season mark in Michigan State history
• Junior Brooke Biermann is second on the team in scoring average at 72.94 and has five top-20 finishes this year, including a tie for first place at the Briar's Creek Invitational.
• Senior Leila Raines, the recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, is third on the team with a 73.00 and has five top-20 finishes, including the last four events.

FAMILIAR TERRITORY

• Michigan State is making its eighth-straight NCAA Regionals appearance and 24th since 1999.
• The Spartans are looking to advance to the NCAA Championships for the third time in the last four years.
• MSU won the NCAA Palm Beach Regional in 2023, the program's first-ever NCAA Regional win, with Brooke Biermann taking medalist honors, before finishing in
• The team tied for fourth the Louisville Regional in 2021 and finished in 16th place at the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale, Arizona.

REGIONALS EXPERIENCE

• While head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll is making her 24th appearance in NCAA Regionals, Michigan State's lineup features six players with extensive Regional action, all of them part of last year's 2023 NCAA Palm Beach Regional Championship.
• Seniors Leila Raines and Valentina Rossi will be playing in their fourth NCAA Regional and were part two teams that advanced to the NCAA Championships (2021, 2023).
• In 2022, Raines tied for 10th place individually at the NCAA Stillwater Regional and advanced to play in the NCAA Championships.
• Juniors Brooke Biermann and Katie Lu will be playing in their third-straight NCAA Regional.
• Biermann won the NCAA Palm Beach Regional last year, sharing medalist honors at 3-under par 213.
• Lu, meanwhile, tied for 33rd place at last year's Palm Beach Regional … MSU finished in 18th place at the NCAA Championships and Lu advanced to the final round of stroke play, becoming the first plyer in MSU history to advance as an individual.
• The Spartans' three lowest 54-hole team scores at an NCAA Regional have come since 2017, as their 872 in Athens in 2017 is the lowest and MSU matched that mark with an 872 in the 2023 NCAA Palm Beach Regional.
• MSU shot a 5-over par 878 in 2021 in Louisville for the third-lowest mark, while the 882 in 2019 in Austin is the fourth-lowest.

 
FOR THE RECORD BOOK

• Junior Katie Lu has put her name in the Michigan State record books this year, with her 71.13 scoring average the second-best single season mark in program history.
• Lu's career average of 73.56 is fourth all-time and with two individual wins this year (the Mary Fossum Invitational and the Briar's Creek Invitational), she became the first MSU player to win at least two events in one year since 2015-16 (Sarah Burnham).
• Lu is also just one of 12 players in Michigan State history with at least two career wins.
• Lu is joined in the record books by classmate Brooke Biermann, who ranks third all-time at Michigan State with a 73.25 scoring average.
• Biermann, who ranks 10th all-time with a 72.98 scoring average last year, currently has a 72.94 scoring average, which is the 11th-best single season mark at MSU.
• Not to be outdone, senior Leila Raines ranks No. 6 all-time with a 73.99 career average and classmate Valentina Rossi is seventh all-time with a 74.26 average.

ALL-B1G SPARTAN

• Katie Lu was named to the All-Big Ten Conference First Team in a vote of the league's coaches … Lu was one of two Spartans recognized by the league as senior Leila Raines was the recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
• Lu has been the top player for the Spartans this year, carrying a team-best 71.13 scoring average over 32 rounds and 11 events. Her scoring average currently ranks as the second-best single season mark in Michigan State history.
• The junior has been the team's top finisher seven times this year, including winning two events, taking medalist honors at MSU's Mary Fossum Invitational (3-under par 213) on Sept. 18 and tying for first place with junior teammate Brooke Biermann at the Briar's Creek Invitational on March 12 (5-under par 211) … Overall this season, Lu has posted four top-5 finishes, seven among the top-10 and has finished among the top-20 overall in 10 out of 11 events played.

MODEL OF CONSISTENCY

• The Michigan State women's golf program has appeared in 24 of the past 25 NCAA Regionals (1999-2014; 2016-24) and has earned a berth in the NCAA Championships 13 times since 2000 (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2021, 2023).
• In addition, since the inception of the conference championships in 1974, only Ohio State (18) has won more league titles than the Spartans (14).
• MSU won five consecutive Big Ten titles from 1974-78, and has won conference crowns in 1982, 2001, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2021.

HEAD COACH STACY SLOBODNIK-STOLL

• In Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll's 27 years guiding the program, she has led MSU to eight Big Ten titles (2001, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2021), 13 trips to the NCAA Championships (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2021), and 24 appearances in the NCAA Regionals (1999-2014, 2016-24).
• MSU has won 44 tournaments during Slobodnik-Stoll's tenure, and her players have earned All-Big Ten honors 59 times, including 37 first-team selections.
• She has been voted Big Ten Coach of the Year on five occasions (2001, 2007, 2012, 2017, 2018).
• Slobodnik-Stoll was inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame in June 2017 and the Women's Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame in December 2017.