INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference has named Lewis University sophomore Melissa VanSistine its GLVC Player of the Month for September in women’s golf, it was announced Friday.  VanSistine earned the honors following a vote from the league’s women’s golf coaches.

VanSistine played in four events over the course of September and posted three top-three finishes right out of the gate and took 24th in a national preview event as well.  Her seven-round stroke average of 77.43 earned her the league’s monthly award for the first time in her career, while making her the first Flyer to win the award since Jamie Siedlaczek in Oct. 2008.

VanSistine opened the fall with a first-place finish at the Prairie State Preview on Sept. 5, where she fired a 75 to pace 31 other golfers in the field while helping the Flyers to third place with a score of 332.  The Rockford, Illinois, native then tied for third place in a field of 81 golfers with a score of 154 (80-74) at the Wolf Pack Invitational, Sept. 8-9.  As a team, Lewis finished first in the 15-team field at 643.

She then earned a pair of runner-up finishes at Southern Indiana’s Screamin’ Eagle Classic, Sept. 14-15, as her 151 (78-73) led her to a second-place tie out of 77 golfers while Lewis finished second overall at 629 in the field of 13 teams.  Her final round 73 marked a new career low for the sophomore.  VanSistine concluded the month by finished tied for 24th in a field of 132 players at the NCAA Division II National Preview in Allendale, Michigan, Sept. 27-28.  Her 162 (78-84) helped the Flyers place ninth as a team with a 664 in the field of 26 top squads.