LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz. --- Biola Women's Golf carded a second-consecutive 310 to round out the PacWest Women's Golf Championships on Wednesday. The score was good enough to allow the Eagles to move up and finish third in their first-ever PacWest postseason appearance.

"It feels like an amazing accomplishment to have come in third at our first NCAA Conference championship," said Head Coach Jane Carr. "Our team has worked so hard all year, but moving to Division II golf has been a huge leap for us. Other DII coaches have commended our team for performing so well in our first year as a DII school. We have a group of girls that not only want to win, but are learning what it is like to win and be successful on the course."

Alexis Gopfert once again led the charge for the Eagles with an even-par final round to close out her tournament with a score of 13-over (229) and a top-10 finish. The sophomore was Biola's fifth-seeded golfer coming into play and had their best or second-best round each day of play.

Gopfert recorded a tournament-best six birdies in her final round of play with a two-under final nine holes. That allowed her to slide up the leaderboard from 13th all the way up to eighth. That finish allowed Gopfert to make it onto the All-Tournament Team, becoming the first Biola golfer to earn that honor in the NCAA Division II, PacWest era. Gopfert's top-10 finish was her second of the season and third of her career.

"It is pretty evident that Alexis loves conference championships," said Carr. "She rose to the occasion last year as a freshman shooting a final round 73, and then she shot an 81, 76, 72 this year at our first PacWest NCAA conference championship. She has struggled all season playing mostly in the fifth spot of the team or traveling as an individual. I know she was frustrated, especially when she was traveling as an individual. Our coaching staff has always felt that Alexis could contribute significantly to this team, it just wasn't happening for her until this week. I think after missing our last tournament at Pacific Grove she kicked it up a gear and it certainly has paid off."

All four of Biola's final day countable scores came in under 81, meaning the Eagles did not have to count a score higher than 82 all tournament long. Tuesday's middle round saw Biola count four scores in the 70s. Today, the scores were aided by Gopfert's 72 (a new career-best) and Marcel Manalo's tournament-best 76.

Gopfert's parents flew in from Georgia to watch her play, and their trip was made well worth it as Gopfert shot the 72 on the final day, which was the third-best total in the whole field. They nearly missed their flight home waiting for the tournament field to finish its final day of play.

Manalo kept sinking pars all day long to build her stellar final round and help the team move up the leaderboard. She only had five holes worse than par, all bogeys, and added a birdie while filling out the rest of the card with 12 pars (her tournament-high). Manalo shot a three-day total of 236 (+20).

"Marcel is a freshman that has come out strong this year," said Carr. "I call her one of those 'sneaky good' players. She has a calm and unassuming demeanor on the course. I really never know how she is playing because she carries herself like a seasoned senior."

After Manalo's finish of 76 came Jules Loibl and Sophia Karnazes who rounded out Biola's final day counting total with a pair of 81s. Loibl finished the tournament 22nd with a total score of 243 (+27). Karnazes and Tori Roeske both carded 247s (+31) to tie for 25th in the 60-golfer field.

"Despite a tough final day for Tori Roeske she led Biola in 32 par's for 54 holes," said Carr. "Tori has been one of the most steady players on this team. Every tournament she is right there contributing. She makes more pars than anyone on the team and has certainly been an anchor for us."

Biola made up a ton of ground over the final two days of competition, making up for the uncharacteristic 325 on day one. The Eagles were 17 shots behind Holy Names after day one and 12 shots back of the Hawks entering the final day of play. The podium finish came down to the final golfer on the course for HNU as Biola sat in the clubhouse one stroke up on the Hawks with HNU's Chisay Arai finishing up her final three holes.

Thankfully for Head Coach Jane Carr's team, Arai had a double-bogey on hole 17 right before she birdied 18 and that allowed Biola to finish the tournament a slim two holes in front of fourth-place Holy Names. It was a tight finish from 3-5 as Dixie State ended just one shot back from HNU and three behind BU.

"On the final day we were on pins and needles as we waited for the final three teams in the field to complete their round," said Carr. "At the beginning of the final day we were just six strokes off Dixie State and 12 strokes off Holy Names. I knew it would take stellar rounds on our part and a little help from the other teams for us to move into third, but that was always our goal to finish in the top third of the field in our first PacWest Conference appearance."

The third-place finish is a fantastic way to begin the PacWest era for the program, and it also helps the entire department as the top-3 finish will go a long way towards Biola's standings in the PacWest Commissioner's Cup. The Eagles were in second after the fall season and third after winter.