MESQUITE, Nev.—Dane Huddleston fired a 7-under-par 65 in Sunday's opening round of the Mesquite Desert Classic at Casablanca Resort, taking the outright lead atop the 65-player leaderboard. Utah Valley sits in a tie for third place in the 12-team field after posting a 4-under-par 284.

"Dane continues to play at a very high level," said Utah Valley head coach Chris Curran. "All facets of his game were on point today. As a team, we need to clean up a few wild shots, but I'm happy with where we sit after 18 holes."

Seattle U leads the tournament at 10-under-par 278, followed by Eastern Kentucky in second at 5-under-par 283. Utah Valley is tied with Utah Tech for third at 4-under-par 284.

Huddleston's 7-under-par 65 is the second-lowest round in UVU history, trailing only the program record of 8-under-par 64, which has been accomplished by six different Wolverines. The sophomore eagled the 530-yard, par-5 11th hole and recorded six birdies. He holds a two-shot lead over Seattle U's Ben Ragland and Western Kentucky's Trevor Drew, who are tied for second at 5-under-par 67.

Ryan Seamons also had a strong start, carding a 3-under-par 69 to sit in a tie for sixth. He recorded five birdies, including three on the front nine.

Playing as an individual, Isaiah Ellis shot an even-par 72 and is tied for 19th after carding five birdies, four of which came on the back nine.

Andrew Hawk is tied for 26th after posting a 1-over-par 73 in the opening round, highlighted by two back-nine birdies.

Zachary Erskine and Ethan Efford are tied for 54th after shooting 5-over-par 77s.

Utah Valley will continue play in round two of the Mesquite Desert Classic on Monday morning, with the final round set for Tuesday.