MIDLOTHIAN, VA –– Fueled by three late-match shutouts, the Carolinas junior girls’ team scored a 13½-10½ final day singles victory over Virginia-Maryland to post a 23-13 win as the 3rd Mid-Atlantic Girls’ Challenge concluded today at Independence Golf Club (6,036 yards, par 36-36—72).

A team of juniors mixing North and South Carolina players against their Virginia and Maryland counterparts competed in the championship. In the format, a point is earned for winning the outward nine, the inward half and the overall match.

After trailing 9½-2½ after first day four-ball action, the Virginias-Maryland team rallied to win the first three matches of the last day to gain an advantage. Bolstered by strong play that included an eagle at the par-5 eighth hole, Suffolk’s Lauren Doughtie notched a 9 and 8 victory over Katie Garahan (Rock Hill, S.C.) in the first match to score three points. Virginia-Maryland drew within one point (9½-8½) when Michelle Grilli (Lutherville, Md.) blanked Taylor Barrett (York, S.C.), and the hosts owned a one-point (11-10) lead after Barboursville’s Whitney Neuhauser recorded a 2½-½ win versus Brooke Goodwin (Fuquay-Varina, N.C.) in match three.

With the Carolinas carrying a very strong portion of their team in the last three matches, Virginia-Maryland didn’t win any of the final five contests of the day. For Carolinas, Amber Littman of Stoney Creek, N.C., Ann Laney of Charlotte, N.C. and Mallory Hetzel of Summerville, SC supplied shutouts in the final trio of matches.

With the triumph, Carolinas took a 2-1-0 lead in the event’s all-time history. Virginia-Maryland won last year’s matches 8½-7½ at Pinewild Country Club in Pinehurst, N.C., to tie the series, 1-1 after Carolinas captured the inaugural matches, 9-7 at Independence Golf Club in 2002.

The girls team matches are an effort of the Carolinas Golf Association, the Virginia State Golf Association and the Maryland State Golf Association.

Lauren Doughtie, Suffolk, Va. def. Katie Garahan, Rock Hill, SC, 3-0

Michelle Grilli (Lutherville, Md.) def. Taylor Barrett, York, SC, 3-0

Whitney Neuhauser, Barboursville, Va. def. Brooke Goodwin, Fuquay-Varina, NC, 2½-½

Sydney Crane, Jamestown, NC def. Hunter Ross, Manakin-Sabot,Va., 2½-½;

Christie Appleton, Chesapeake, Va. tied Lauren Hunt, Little River, SC, 1½-1½

Amber Littman, Stoney Creek, NC def. Kim Daniels, Timonium, Md. 3-0

Ann Laney, Charlotte, NC def. Chrissy Gonzalez, Patuxent River, Md. 3-0