SPARTANBURG, S.C. – ETSU’s Tereza Melecka was named the Southern Conference Women’s Golf Player of the Year on Tuesday, becoming just the second Buccaneer to claim the honor in program history. The teams are selected by a combination of Golfstat rankings and a vote of the league’s nine head coaches.
 
ETSU head coach Stefanie Shelton was named coach of the year after leading the team to its first-ever SoCon Championship title and clinching the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. The Bucs totaled 12-over-par 876 to claim a one-stroke victory over runner-up Furman on April 20. 

Melecka was one of the top five SoCon golfers in the Golfstat rankings who automatically earned spots on the All-SoCon team. She was joined by Furman’s Madison Moosa and Anna Morgan, Mercer’s Payton Schanen and UNCG’s Tara Bettle, who were also among the top five golfers to claim automatic slots. The remaining spots on the all-conference team were voted on by the coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes. ETSU’s Julia Goodson and Warda Amira Rawof, Furman’s Sarah-Eve Rheaume, Mercer’s Lauren Lightfritz and Chattanooga’s Esme Hamilton round out the all-conference team.

Morgan, the SoCon Freshman of the Year, also earned a spot on the all-freshman team. The Spartanburg, South Carolina, native ranks second in the league with a 73.40 stroke average and was the only SoCon golfer among the top 50 players in the country this season. ETSU’s Grace Chin, Mercer’s Tracy Rodriguez, Samford’s Bailey Dunstan and Chattanooga’s Beatriz Barrios joined her in earning the honors. 

Melecka led the Bucs at the SoCon Women’s Golf Championship at Oak Point Golf Course in Johns Island, South Carolina, after firing a 2-over-par 218 to land in a three-way tie for third with Mercer’s Lightfritz and Chattanooga’s Dorota Zalewska. The senior from Belcovice, Czech Republic, leads the league with a 73.13 stroke average and a low-round 67. She won the Chattanooga Classic on March 30 with a 4-under-par 212 and led all golfers in the 71-player field with 13 birdies, helping lead ETSU to its second tournament win of the season prior to the championship. Melecka was the only SoCon golfer to earn player of the week honors twice this season and was also an All-SoCon selection in 2019.  
 
Rheaume, the 2021 SoCon individual medalist, turned in a 4-under-par 212 to win her first league title and tied for the second-lowest score by a SoCon player over 54 holes in SoCon Championship history, which matches the performance of Furman’s Alice Chen in 2015. Her first-place finish marked the first time this season that she shot under-par and was also her first top-10 finish of the season. The junior from Quebec, Canada, fired a first-round 2-under-par 70 and a second-round 4-under 68, and wrapped up the tournament with a final-round 2-over-par 74. 

Moosa claimed silver at the SoCon and finished with a 3-under 213 in the runner-up spot, setting a season-best performance. Her 73.83 stroke average is fourth among active SoCon players this season. Moosa was also selected to the All-SoCon team in 2019.


ETSU’s Rawof (74.54) and Goodson (75.19) rank seventh and ninth in the league, respectively, in terms of stroke average on the season. Goodson placed seventh at the conference championship, while Rawof tied for ninth.

Mercer’s Schanen is now a two-time all-conference player, while her teammate Lightfritz, who tied for third at the SoCon championship, is a first-time selection. Both Bears are in the SoCon top 10 in stroke average this season.

UNCG’s Bettle finished the season ranked third in the conference with a 73.59 stroke average and a first-place tournament finish under her belt. She placed among the top three in three different events this year and shot a low-round 68 at the Pinehurst Women’s Intercollegiate on March 28, where she claimed the individual gold. 

Chattanooga’s Hamilton is eighth in the SoCon with a 74.75 stroke average and tied for 13th at the SoCon tournament. 
 
2020-21 All-Southern Conference Women’s Golf Team
 
Player of the Year
Tereza Melecka, ETSU
 
Freshman of the Year
Anna Morgan, Furman
 
Coach of the Year
Stefanie Shelton, ETSU
 
All-Southern Conference
Julia Goodson, ETSU
Tereza Melecka, ETSU
Warda Amira Rawof, ETSU
Madison Moosa Furman
Anna Morgan, Furman
Sarah-Eve Rheaume, Furman
Lauren Lightfritz, Mercer
Payton Schanen, Mercer
Tara Bettle, UNCG
Esme Hamilton, Chattanooga
 
All-freshman team
Grace Chin, ETSU
Anna Morgan, Furman
Tracy Rodriguez, Mercer
Bailey Dunstan, Samford
Beatriz Barrios, Chattanooga
 
* Student-athletes that would have been eligible for all-freshman consideration last year before the season was curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic are eligible to be considered for this season’s all-freshman awards.