Dream, believe and achieve.
MSU women’s golf coach Stacy Slobodnik said those three words will appear on the team’s Big Ten Championship ring because they have been staples in the Spartans’ success this season.
Now the 16th-ranked Spartans will try to build on their momentum in the NCAA Championship, which starts today at Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. The tournament runs through Friday.
Slobodnik said the experience should be a comfortable one for MSU, which is making its second-straight appearance in the NCAA Championship.
“This year we feel very settled,” the Big Ten Coach of the Year said. “We feel very settled and comfortable in knowing what the atmosphere is like, what teams are there, and I think the biggest thing for us this year is the girls believe in themselves.”
Last season, the Spartans tied for 20th place in the nation, but this time around, Slobodnik looks to finish in the top 10.
“I think our goal this year is in the top 10,” she said. “I think with the way we are playing right now, realistically that we could finish in the top five and I think that they proved that to themselves last week at the regional.”
Senior Kasey Gant said she will be taking a more business-like attitude in her return trip to the NCAA Championship. She also agrees with Slobodnik’s top 10 prediction.
“Yes, I think that’s our goal this week, top 10,” Gant said. “I think this year we’re going to be more like, ‘we have a job to do, let’s do it.’”
Gant isn’t the only Spartan returning to the NCAA Championship. She will be joined by juniors Emily Bastel and Stacy Snider. Slobodnik said the three veterans are the key components of the Spartans’ championship run.
“They right now are really the core of our team,” Slobodnik said. “They are the three that have really taken this program from where it was to where it is right now.”
For redshirt freshman Allison Fouch and freshman Sarah Martin, the national stage will be a new experience. Slobodnik said the experience of Gant, Bastel and Snider will help ease any anxiety the freshmen will encounter.
“Those three are the ones who have taken the two freshmen under their wing and are saying ‘OK, this is how it’s going to go, this is what you’re to expect,’” Slobodnik said. “And we all as a team have to work on that so when Allison and Sarah are there next week, they don’t get overwhelmed.”
Fouch’s second-place finish at the Big Ten Championship on April 29 and her 71st-to-29th-place turnaround at the NCAA West Regional on May 12 has also been important for the Spartans’ postseason success, Slobodnik said.
“She really has been a key to our success that I don’t think has gotten enough attention,” Slobodnik said. “Attention that is truly deserved. She has been a huge key to our success, shooting two rounds of 74 the last two days of the regional and you need four players, that’s the bottom line.
“As much attention as Kasey, Stacy and Emily have got, we need a fourth player to be successful and she has definitely stepped up into that role.”
Fouch said there has been a recent surge in her confidence. Instead of getting frustrated because the game isn’t going her way, she is learning to shoot a good score.
“I feel more and more that I cannot hit the ball well and still score and keep up with all of the big players,” she said.
Now Fouch and Slobodnik know it’s time to achieve their preseason dreams.
“We hope being a family-oriented team and having that comfort zone that they will fall right into place,” Slobodnik said. “And (the team) knows we deserve to be there.”
