Recap courtesy of Eastern Michigan Athletic Communications

CARLSBAD, Calif. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's golf team posted a 1-1 record in its debut at the NCAA Match Play Championships, May 26, as the Eagles upset No. 4 University of Texas, 3.5-1.5, in the quarterfinals before falling to No. 1 Stanford University, 5-0, in the semifinals at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. With their play, the Eagles finished the 2025-26 season tied for third nationally, a far cry from the No. 219 ranking it held in January 2024.
 
"I am excited for our finish and our season," EMU Head Coach Josh Brewer said. "This tournament is exhausting. It's been a long week. I'm okay with the fact we got beaten by a team that, on paper, is better than us, so I can live with that. It's disappointing, but it's one of those things that 20 years from now, when you walk through the university and there's a picture of us up there holding a semifinal trophy in women's golf, you know it's pretty special. You'd like to think you might be holding a different trophy, but at the end of the day, it might be as good as it ever gets. So, you just got to enjoy it.
 
"I'm super proud of this team," Brewer continued. "They did an amazing job. Our quarterfinal win and the celebration on 18, it was more for Jasmine, because she's had some good golf and bad golf the past six weeks and for her to hit that putt in front of all these people was amazing. I don't know why it was so emotional for me, but it might have been a lot of frustration that came out. We knew we could still do it and it was magical. It was a great tournament, and now we will enjoy it for a bit before we get back to work. The portal is opening soon, and our players will be competing all summer. There is a lot of work ahead of us, but you don't get here without working hard. So, we will continue to work and see if the portal will be nice to us once again."
 
Eastern utilized the same lineup in both matches on the day with Erina Tan (Belmont, Western Australia/Mount Lawley Senior), Jasmine Leovao (Oceanside, Calif./El Camino/Long Beach State), Janae Leovao (Oceanside, Calif./El Camino/Long Beach State), Savannah de Bock (Ecaussinnes-d'enghien, Belgium/Institut de l'Enfant-Jésus-Lycée/Georgia), and Baiyok Sukterm (Bang Yi, Thailand/Panitchayakan Rajdamnern Tech/Lindsey Wilson) taking the course in that order. Each Eagle was tasked with facing some of the top-ranked players in the nation, including No. 55 Janae Leovao, who faced No. 1 Farah O'Keefe (Texas) and No. 2 Paula Martin Sampedro (Stanford) in consecutive matches. Despite the tall odds, four Eagles recorded one win on the day with two of those victories coming over a player ranked in the top 15.
 
How It Happened • Quarterfinals
Eastern made the most of its debut in match play as the Eagles scored a 3.5-1.5 victory over fourth-seeded Texas with a dramatic putt on No. 18 by Jasmine Leovao securing the victory and sending the team and a large cheering section in a thunderous celebration. Eastern, the fifth-seed in match play, moved to 1-0 in match play while dropping Texas to 0-3 with its third loss in the quarterfinals (2023, 2025, 2026).
 
Match #1 • No. 17 Lauren Kim (UT) def. Erina Tan, 4&2
Tan was the first player in Eastern history to tee off in match play and built a 1-up lead with a win at No. 3. After dropping a point at No. 4 and regaining her advantage with a win at No. 5, she would drop points at No. 6 and No. 7 to see Kim take a 1-up lead. Tan, however, would win two of the next three holes to reclaim her own 1-up lead, but the 17th-ranked player in the nation fought back and won five of the final six holes to take the 4& 2 victory.
 
Match #2 • No. 94 Jasmine Leovao (EM) def. No. 13 Cindy Hsu, 1UP
Leovao and Hsu battled back and forth throughout the match with Hsu taking a 1-up lead with a win at No. 3 before Leovao claimed wins at No. 4 and No. 5 to flip the score in her favor. Hsu returned the favor with wins at No. 7 and No. 9 to regain her 1-up lead before Leovao squared the match with a win at No. 13. After neither player scored over the next four holes, the drama unfolded on No. 18 as the Eagles held a 2-1 lead and Leovao was sitting on the green with a birdie putt. She drained the putt and sent the surrounding fans and players into wild celebration with hugs and high-fives as the putt won her match, 1-up, and clinched the team victory.
 
Match #3 • No. 55 Janae Leovao (EM) def. No. 1 Farah O'Keefe, 5&4
Leovao would start her busy day of facing two of the top players in the nation by building a 2-up lead on the 2026 NCAA individual champion and top-ranked collegiate player in O'Keefe before the Longhorn would cut the lead to 1-up with a win at No. 6. From there, however, it was all Leovao as she won at No. 9 (2-up) before closing the match with wins at No. 12, No. 13, and No. 14 to secure the 5&4 victory.
 
Match #4 • No. 146 Savannah de Bock (EM) def. Angela Heo, 5&3
The match was tied through the first six holes before de Bock ran off three consecutive wins at Nos. 7-9, to take a 3-up lead. She would add to her margin with wins at No. 14 and No. 15 to claim the 5&3 win. Throughout the match, de Bock either won or halved every hole played.
 
Match #5 • No. 79 Baiyok Sukterm (EM) tied No. 34 Selina Liao (UT), AS
Sukterm dropped three of the first six holes to find herself trailing, 3-down, before winning at No. 7 to cut into the lead. After dropping a point at No. 8, Sukterm would win the next two holes to make it 1-up for Liao. After no scoring took place over the next five holes, Sukterm won at No. 16 to square the match, where it would end to give each team one-half of one point.
 
How It Happened • Semifinals
The Eagles ran into one of the toughest teams in the nation as all five players in the lineup were ranked among the top 14 nationally this year, including three in the top 10. Eastern battled throughout, but was unable to overcome the Cardinal, who advanced to the match play final to face No. 2 USC.
 
Match #1 • No. 12 Meja Ortengren (S) def. Erina Tan, 4&3
Ortengren won the first hole and was 3-up through four before Tan won the sixth and eighth holes to pull to within one. The 12th-ranked player in the NCAA responded with three more wins over the final seven holes, including a birdie on No. 15, to clinch the point for the Cardinal.
 
Match #2 • No. 4 Andrea Revuelta (S) def. No. 94 Jasmine Leovao, 2&1
Leovao took an early lead with a par on No. 3 and carried that lead into No. 14 before the fourth-ranked player in the college ranks won three consecutive holes (Nos. 15-17) to grab a 2&1 victory.
 
Match #3 • No. 2 Paula Martin Sampedro (S) def. No. 55 Janae Leovao, 1UP
In her second match of the day, Leovao was tasked with her second top two players as she drew No. 2 Paula Martin Sampedro in the semifinals. Leovao won the opening hole before seeing Sampedro tie the match after a birdie on No. 5. Leovao responded with a win at No. 8 and held the lead until the Cardinal player squared the match with a win at No. 12. Sampedro added a win at No. 15 to lead to her win.
 
Match #4 • No. 14 Kelly Xu (S) def. No. 146 Savannah de Bock, 2UP
Despite taking a 1-up lead after the second hole, de Bock found herself down, 3-up, after No. 7 and worked to battle back down the stretch. The Eagle junior would cut into her deficit with a win at No. 14, but the match ended with her down, 2-up.
 
Match #5 • No. 7 Megha Ganne (S) def. No. 79 Baiyok Sukterm, 4&3
Ganne won three of the first six holes to take a 3-up lead before Sukterm won at No. 8 to reduce her deficit. Ganne won the next hole to rebuild her 3-up lead and grew it to 4-up following a win at No. 13. The two recorded matching pars on the next two holes to give the Cardinal the 4&3 win.
 
Team Notes
» Eastern went 1-1-0 in its national match play debut with its win in the quarterfinals marking the first in MAC history after Kent State had lost in the round twice previously. The Eagles also became the first NCAA Division I program in the state of Michigan to not only compete in match play but also to win a match.
» With its results, Eastern is now 11-15-4 all-time in match play. The last time the Eagles competed in match play was at the 2022 MAC Match Play in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., where EMU finished seventh overall. The Eagles also reached the semifinal round of match play for third time overall and the first time since the 2016 MAC Match Play in which Eastern finished second.
» With their win over Texas, Eastern helped the fifth-seeded teams to a 6-5 record in NCAA Match Play against their fourth-seeded opponents. The win was the first for a fifth-seed since 2023 when USC defeated South Carolina.
 
Individual Notes
» Jasmine Leovao, Janae Leovao, Savannah de Bock, and Baiyok Sukterm posted the first match play wins in program history at the national tournament with their victories against Texas.
» Erina Tan (No. 17 and No. 12), Jasmine Leovao (No. 13 and No. 4), Janae Leovao (No. 1 and No. 2), and Baiyok Sukterm (No. 34 and No. 7) each faced a pair of highly-ranked foes in the two rounds of match play. The wins recorded came against the No. 13, No. 1, and No. 34 players in the nation.
 
Up Next
The 2025-26 collegiate season has ended for the Eagles.