OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 6, 2021) – The roster might be without a couple of familiar veteran leaders who have graduated, but the goal for Oklahoma Christian women's golf this season remains the same – to grind toward what would be a sixth straight NCAA Division II postseason appearance.

On Monday, coach Greg Lynn's Eagles will begin their quest for what would be a 10th straight overall trip to the postseason when they open the fall season in the Dallas Baptist Invitational, a one-day, 36-hole event hosted by DBU at The Golf Club of Dallas.

Gone from the OC roster are three-time All-Conference honoree Abigail Rigsby and Shaley Goad, both four-year starters for the Eagles. But three other starters and a key reserve do return and will join three promising freshmen in the lineup as the Eagles seek to continue the program's perfect postseason record.

OC has played in every NCAA regional tournament held since the program became eligible with the 2015-16 season (with the 2020 tournament cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Before that, the Eagles played in three straight National Christian College Athletic Association Invitational events, as well as in the NAIA Championship in the program's debut season in 2011-12.

The most experienced player on the Eagles' roster is junior Alexandria Bennett of Plano, Texas, who's the last remaining starter from the 2018-19 team that advanced through regionals to qualify for the NCAA Division II Championship. Bennett took a giant stride forward during the spring 2021 campaign, winning her first collegiate tournament and consecutive Lone Star Conference player-of-the-week honors and posting four top-10 event finishes en route to making the All-LSC second-team list.

Two players from Finland, each a sophomore with considerable experience, also return. Camilla Jarvela finished as the individual runner-up in the Division II West Super Regional and qualified for the Division II Championship at TPC Michigan in Detroit, a big reason she received honorable mention on the All-America list. Her 75.5 scoring average last season ranked second on the team behind Rigsby.

Like Jarvela, Wilma Merenmies – in her third season with the OC program – seems destined to soon post her first collegiate win, having posted four top-20 finishes in six tournaments this past spring along with a 76.6 scoring average.

Sophomore Alyssa Wilson of Yukon, also entering her third season with the Eagles, has been a key contributor for the Eagles. She's coming off a successful summer season, during which she won the President's Flight in the Women's Oklahoma Golf Association State Amateur Championship. Last fall, she recorded her first career top-10 finish in the West Texas A&M Fall Invitational.

Lynn signed three promising freshmen last November in Oklahoma prep standouts Haley Blevins and Sarah Sherrard and a rising player from Mexico, Sofia Benavides Herberth.

Blevins won the Class 6A individual title while leading Edmond North to the state championship this past spring. She was named as the Central Oklahoma Athletic Conference player of the year and was a finalist for The Oklahoman's All-City player of the year honor, making the first-team list, after winning four tournaments for the Huskies. She has won more than 30 tournaments as a junior player in Oklahoma and Alabama, from which she moved to Edmond.

Sherrard, from Moore, attended Christian Heritage Academy in Del City. She won 18 times on the PGA South Central Section Junior Golf Tour from 2014-2020 and posted three straight top-10 finishes in the Class 2A state tournament – eighth as a freshman in 2018, third as a sophomore in 2019 and fifth as a senior in 2021.

Benavides Herberth enjoyed much success on the American Junior Golf Association Tour, with three top-20 finishes in 2020. She represented Mexico in the 2017 Teen Van Horn Cup and has recorded multiple high finishes in tournaments in her native country.

Other players on the OC roster, including junior Sarah Harrison of Edmond, junior Hannah Sullivan of Eufaula, Taje Woods of Mustang and Kaybre Wright of Cushing, will have the opportunity to represent the Eagles in local tournaments.

The starting lineup for the Dallas Baptist tournament will include Jarvela, Merenmies, Bennett, Benavides Herberth and Blevins. Wilson and Sherrard will play in the tournament as individuals.