Lilia VuLilia Vu
USGA

Lilia Vu won four rounds of match play before falling in the Semifinals on Saturday.

Vu Reaches Semifinals at U.S. Women's Amateur

Women's Golf

Juniors Lilia Vu and Bethany Wu and sophomore Mariel Galdiano all made match play.


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CHULA VISTA, Calif. - Junior Lilia Vu reached the Semifinals of match play at this week's U.S. Women's Amateur, while junior Bethany Wu and sophomore Mariel Galdiano also made match play at the San Diego Country Club.

In 36 holes of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday (Aug. 7-8), Galdiano ended up tied for 11th at 1-under 143, rebounding from an opening-round 74 (+2) with a 3-under 69 over her second 18 holes. Vu tied for 23rd (+2, 146), also improving on her second day, going 75-71, while Wu tied for 46th (+5, 149, 71-78).

Wu, seeded 49th, was the first Bruin to advance past the Round of 64, never trailing in defeating #16-seed Kaylee Benton 3 and 2 on Wednesday (Aug. 9). She won the third, lost the fifth and won the ninth to take a 1-up lead to the back nine. After five halves in a row, Wu won #15 and #16 to close out the win. Vu, seeded 25th, would also advance with a 4 and 3 triumph versus #40-seed Brenna Lervick. After dropping holes #2 and #3, Vu won #4, #5 and #7 to go 1-up. Lervick squared the match on the ninth, but Vu responded with wins on #10, #12, #13 and #14, with a halve on #15 wrapping up the win. Galdiano, seeded 17th, would end up losing to #48 Lucy Li, 4 and 3. The close match, which saw Galdiano only trail 1-down after 12, finished with three straight wins by Li (#13-#15).

Vu had to go the distance in the Round of 32 on Thursday morning against the #8-seed, Sarah Burnham, but prevailed 1-up. Vu won the opening hole before losing three in a row to fall 2-down. She evened the match with wins on #5 and #7, but Burnham claimed #8 and would take a 1-up lead to the back nine. Vu re-took the lead with wins on the 11th and 12th. Burnham squared things on #15, but a win on #17 for Vu gave her the lead heading to the home hole, and a halve would give the match to the Bruin. Wu would become the second Bruin to fall victim to Li, who won 6 and 5.

Vu did not need to go the distance in her second match on Thursday, leading the whole way against #56-seed Sarah Rhee in a 6 and 5 triumph. Vu won holes #1, #2, #5 and #7 to go 4-up. After dropping the eighth, she went on to win #9, #12 and #13 to wrap up the match. 

On Friday, Vu would exact revenge for her Bruin teammates against Li, posting a 4 and 3 win to move on to the Semifinals. She never trailed, winning the second, sixth and ninth holes to make the turn 3-up. After dropping #11, Vu closed things out with wins on #13 and #15.

Vu, playing in just her second-ever U.S. Women's Amateur, would face #13-seed Albane Valenzuela in the Semifinals on Saturday morning, but despite leading 1-up going to the back nine after a win on hole #5, she would drop #10, #11, #12 and #16 to fall 3 and 2.