By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
A strong 13-stroke improvement in Round 2 propelled the Murray State women's golf team to a second-place team finish in the season-opening Hesston College Invitational on Tuesday.

The Lady Aggies tallied a team score of 371 in the initial round before cutting that total to 358, which was the largest improvement by any team in the field. They took second only to Barton County Community College.

Sophomore Kylee Smith tied freshman Averyl Bell for top Murray State individual honors with two-round scores of 178, which tied the pair for sixth overall. Smith carded an 87 to open the event and then added a 91 while Bell began with a 95 before posting the Lady Aggies' best round of the tournament with an 83.

Skye Vaca was eighth, just one shot back at 179 (91 and 88), while Addison Pettett tied for ninth in notching a two-round score of 194. Cadence Merchant ended 17^th by adding a total of 217.

"I am really excited about this girls' team," said head coach Lukas Coppedge. "We are starting off the year in a great place and will look to continue to build on our first tournament. We are beginning to build a great team and are excited for the rest of the season."

The squad travels to Sioux Center, Iowa for its next action in the Siouxland Women's Fall Invitational next week hosted by Dordt University.