The women’s golf team came up short this weekend at the Nittany Lion Invitational. Coming off a tournament victory at the Yale Invitational last weekend, the Bulldogs placed a disappointing seventh with a three round team score of 943. The Elis finished one place behind rival Princeton, whom they beat by 21 strokes just one week ago.

Anna Jepson ’05 led the team for the second week in a row, placing sixth with a score of 228 over three rounds. Coach Mary Moan said that she was impressed with Jepson’s performance.

“She had three consistent rounds, but I expect even bigger and better things from her,” Moan said.

Other top performers for the Bulldogs were Jennifer Schriefer ’02 and Sarah Seo ’02, who placed tenth and 21st respectively. Moan seemed particularly impressed with Schriefer, who improved six spots from last weekend’s performance.

Seo, the team’s captain, was disappointed with her inconsistent play. Although she had solid second and third round scores of 74 and 78, she shot an uncharacteristically high 83 in the first round.

“I didn’t play as well as I had wanted, but I feel I was still able to make a contribution,” Seo said. “I am always trying to do whatever I can to help the team.”

Moan echoed Seo’s disappointment but emphasized the captain’s resiliency.

“I feel that the 74 is more indicative of how she did,” said Moan. “I think its just a matter of time — she’s a fighter.”

Rounding out the scoring five for the Bulldogs were Jean Park ’03 (252) and Jordanna Davis ’03 (257).

Notably absent from the top five was freshman Stephanie Wei ’05, who tied Seo last week for seventh place at Yale. Wei withdrew from the competition after the second round because of nagging back pain — the result of a car accident earlier this year.

“I have been playing hurt all season,” said Wei, who added that her injury has made practice extremely difficult. Wei will sit out next week as the Bulldogs travel to New Jersey for the Princeton Invitational.

Moan pointed to the absence of Wei — whom she expected to finish in the Invitational’s top twenty — as partially responsible for the Elis’ unimpressive finish.

“We weren’t 100 percent physically,” Moan said.

Moan did remain confident, however, about the Bulldogs’ prospects for the rest of the year.

“Overall we played pretty well considering the circumstances,” she said. “Our team is solid.”

Seo agreed. “I wasn’t really disappointed. There were 13 other teams we were competing against, and you’re not going to beat your rival every time out.”

Seo said that she did not feel the injury would affect either the team’s confidence or its ability to beat Princeton next week.

“We don’t feel less confident. We still have five really good players and anyone of us can win it all,” she said.