RIO VERDE, Ariz. -- In one of those odd, fall-spring split season-type of things, Western Michigan University's women's golf team will resume its schedule on Friday, hosting the 23^rd annual Rio Verde Invitational in Rio Verde, Ariz.

 But, how does a team which finished its final two tournaments in October on a hot streak keep that momentum going after more than a four-month break?

"I feel we have good momentum going into the spring schedule and everyone has been working real hard,'' senior Megha Vallabhaneni said. "Not only in our simulators, but in the weight room where we're going four times a week and it's exciting to see them hit personal records.''

First-year head coach Matt Zedrick and assistant coach Kendall Turner have been wearing out the carpet, going between the hitting, putting and chipping venues of the $1.5 million Bergeron Golf Performance Center, which opened in the fall of 2024 in the indoor Seelye Athletic Center.

The schedule in the fall was tough enough, but the Broncos came through by winning the tournament they hosted at The Moors, in the next-to-final competition. They then rallied on the final day of the University of Dayton Flyer Invitational to tie for second place.

"I believe the success we had in those final tournaments can carry over,'' Zedrick said. "It creates a belief and shows them what we are working towards is possible.

"Now, we have had more time to work on skills and proving some things we were seeing in the fall. It was a pretty quick fall, playing in five tournaments in seven weeks. We saw growth, and to see that growth with not a lot of time to practice, and now do skill work and create challenges like we did, it's going to create a pretty fun spring.''

Vallabhaneni, Jenna Hayes and Kailey White are the team's seniors. The juniors are Macy Beeson and Bella Brooks, the sophomores are Lauren Lupinek and Saani Venkatesh and the freshmen are Danielle Daniy and Lea Lemieux.

"The seniors have a great dynamic,'' Vallabhaneni said. "We came in as freshmen and had a lot of different leaders, and it's crazy to see we are the leaders now. Jenna and Kailey are two of the best people I know, and I know we will be friends for the rest of our lives.''

At the WMU Fall Classic, Vallabhaneni tied for second, Lupinek was eighth and Daniy was 16^th.

Then at Dayton, WMU was fifth after the first day, and mirrored its first day score of 304 with a 305 on the second day. The Broncos roared back with a 292, which was the best third-round score of any team to tie Kennesaw State for second.

"Wining our home tournament was a big deal, but it was an even bigger deal to finish in a tie for second at Dayton,'' Zedrick said. "The NCR South course is a very challenging course, having hosted multiple major championships, and to go out on the last day and have that round of the tournament to move into the tie for second was a big step for us.''

Lupinek led the way with a fourth-place finish, carding a career-low round of 3-under-par 69 on the final day. Vallabhaneni tied for 12^th and Brooks, who had a 69 on the first day, came in 22^nd.
The four-month break has allowed Zedrick to focus some of the practices on particular phases of the game.

"We looked at some of the stats and saw that inside 100 yards, we weren't as good as we could be and that has been a focal point,'' he said. "Our putting stats could be better and we attacked how we are training and also getting our players to understand the strategy that goes into it.''

The spring schedule is going to be tough with WMU playing against very good competition in California, Arizona, South Carolina and Columbus, Ohio before the Mid-American Conference Championship at the end of April.

"My goal in coming here is to compete at the highest level,'' Zedrick said. "In the MAC, you have a team (Kent State) which has been historically a top 30 team in the country. I want us to see those types of teams week in and week out so we don't get to the MAC Championships and feel they are way different than us.'' Kent State has won an amazing 26-straight MAC women's golf titles coming into 2026.

At the end of the season, saying goodbye to his first group of seniors will be tough.

"They are a really good group and are quite a bit different and can lead in their own ways,'' Zedrick said. "Megha has been a player who has been impactful her entire career here and is just scratching the surface as to what she is capable of.

"She is always having fun and does a good job of putting her arm around her teammates and bringing them along. Jenna has a ton of skill and has worked hard this offseason on her skills and it's showing. Kailey is a leader in showing up every day to work hard because nothing has been handed to her. That's really good for all our players to see.''

Now it's on to Arizona to keep the momentum going. The practice round is one of the first steps.

"In a tournament practice round, we always keep score to give them a better sense of how the course will play,'' Zedrick said. ''A lot of times you will see a team play their first round, then bounce back in the second round with a better score.

"We get that out of the way in the practice round."