LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Behind a 2-under-par 70 from sophomore Nathalie Irlbacher during Tuesday's second round, the Utah Valley University women's golf team moved up two spots to sit in fifth place out of 17 teams at the three-day NM State Aggie Invitational at NMSU Golf Course in Las Cruces. 
 
As a team, UVU moved into fifth place with a 28-over-par 604 (309-295) after carding the third-best score of the day on Tuesday with a 7-over-par 295. With a 604, Utah Valley will enter Wednesday's final round just four strokes back of third place and eight back of second. Conference foe and host New Mexico State leads the tournament with a 1-over-par 577 (296-281), while Northern Arizona sits in second 296-300—596), and UTEP (302-298—600) and South Dakota State are tied for third (307-293—600). 
 
By holding down fifth place, UVU is currently ahead of WAC foes California Baptist (607), UT Rio Grande Valley (628) and CSU Bakersfield (666), as well as in-state foe Southern Utah (608), and Incarnate Word (610), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (618), Northern Colorado (620), UC Irvine (620), UT Arlington (621), South Dakota (625), North Dakota (631) and Stephen F. Austin (636). 
 
"Our team finished today's round particularly strong. Nathalie birdied three of her last four holes to finish 2-under and Bailey (Henley) birdied her last two holes to bring it back to 75," head UVU coach Dr. Sue Nyhus said. "We have a really good team and our ball striking is outstanding. We are still growing and learning and have many great rounds ahead of us."
 
After carding her second-best round of the season with a 70 on Tuesday, Irlbacher now moves into a tie for 10th place at the tournament at 4-over-par (78-70—148). Irlbacher carded a total of four birdies during Tuesday's second round to give her a team-best seven at the event. 
 
Seniors Kate Williamson, Kaylee Shimizu, and junior Bailey Henley too played well for UVU on Tuesday by all carding 75s on the day. Williamson now sits in a tie for 23rd place with a 7-over-par 151 (76-75), while Henley is in a tie for 29th with an 8-over 152 (77-75), and Shimizu is tied for 33rd with a 9-over 153 (78-75). Freshman Victoria Estrada rounds out UVU's competitors at the event, as she's currently tied for 45th with an 11-over-par 155 (78-77). 
 
UTEP's Audrey Haddad is the individual leader at the 54-hole event at 3-under-par (70-71—141), but will enter the final round just one stroke ahead of NM State's Amelia McKee (75-67—142). 
 
The Aggie Invitational will conclude on Wednesday with the tournament's final round beginning with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. MT. Live scoring can be followed by visiting GolfStat.com.