March 28, 2004

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Virginia Tech, playing a man short on Sunday, shot a final round 303 and lost by two strokes to the tournament host at the Furman Intercollegiate at the par-72, 6,800 Furman University Golf Course in Greenville, S.C.

Freshman Ryan Sypniewski (Radford, Va.) suffered a pinched nerve in his neck and shoulders on Saturday and was unable to finish his round on Sunday, leaving the Hokies with just four active players for the last day.

Redshirt junior Scott Wise (Vinton, Va.) led the Hokies with a three-round total of 219, finishing in a tie for fourth place. He finished two strokes behind Matt Davidson of Furman, who won medalist honors in a playoff with teammate Rob Langley.

Senior Ryan Stinnett (Amherst, Va.) was tied for sixth at 220 and sophomore Joel Kraner (Dublin, Ohio) finished tied for eighth at 221. Freshman Carl Wakely (Cardiff, Wales) tied for 87^th at 235.

Sophomore Sam Nicholson (Augusta, Ga.) and redshirt senior Matt Hollerbach (Tulsa, Okla.) played the tournament as individuals. Hollerbach shot a final round 71 and finished tied for 13^th at 222. Nicholson tied for 34^th at 227.

Host Furman won the tournament at 19-over-par 883, defeating the Hokies, who finished the event at 885, by two strokes. Michigan was third at 894 and Coastal Carolina was fourth at 895. Wofford shot the best round of the day and finished fifth at 898. Northwestern, UNC Wilmington, UNC Charlotte, Charleston Southern and Elon and UNC Greensboro, who tied for 10^th, rounded out the top 10 in the 20-team tournament.

Tech was the three-time defending champion of the event, which has hosted some of the top names in collegiate golf over the years. No team had ever won the event three straight years before the Hokies pulled the feat last season. Next on the schedule for the Hokies is the Cleveland Golf/Augusta State Invitational at the Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. on April 3 and 4.

RESULTS
         1   Furman University        286  292  305    883       +19 
         2   Virginia Tech            293  289  303    885       +21 
         3   Michigan, U. of          295  299  300    894       +30 
         4   Coastal Carolina         305  298  292    895       +31 
         5   Wofford College          309  301  288    898       +34 
         6   Northwestern             299  306  294    899       +35 
         7   N. Car. Wilmington       297  307  297    901       +37 
         8   Charlotte                300  301  302    903       +39 
         9   Charleston Southern      298  304  303    905       +41 
        10   Elon University          295  307  306    908       +44 
             N. Car.- Greensboro      298  302  308    908       +44 
        12   Tenn.-Chattanooga        310  304  296    910       +46 
             Marshall University      306  301  303    910       +46 
        14   Davidson College         303  306  304    913       +49 
        15   Rhode Island, U. of      304  303  307    914       +50 
        16   Winthrop University      309  312  303    924       +60 
        17   East Carolina Univ.      307  307  314    928       +64 
        18   Western Carolina U.      308  306  316    930       +66 
        19   Furman B                 314  308  309    931       +67 
        20   Appalachian State U.     309  316  317    942       +78