CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois Women’s Golf will begin the Samantha Sambursky era with a visit to The Velvet Classic Monday, Sept. 15, in Paducah, Ky. The tournament will be played over two days (36 Monday, 18 Tuesday) and will feature two other Missouri Valley Conference foes in host Murray State and Belmont.

Six golfers return from the 2024-25 group as the program’s lone addition was freshman Hannia Gastelum, who will make her debut this week. 

Gastelum will be joined by Allie Santos, Kayla Sayyalinh, Calli Smith and Amelia Zingler in the team’s starting lineup. Ella Overstreet will play individually.

Sayyalinh returns after a strong sophomore campaign where she played in all 30 rounds and led the team carding a 76.37 stroke average. She capped her impressive season tying for 10th at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships. 

The forecast calls for hot weather over the two days, with high of 93 and 92, respectively. Winds will be calm, with speeds around 5 miles per hour.

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