DeLand, Fla. ? The NCAA on Monday announced the selections for the 2009 Division I Women's Golf regional championships and the Atlantic Sun Conference champion Stetson women's golf team will be playing in the NCAA East Regional May 7-9 at the University of Florida's Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla.  The Hatters will be one of 21 teams along with three individuals looking to advance to the national finals May 19-22 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.

63 teams and nine individual competitors have been divided equally among three regional championships; the Central regional will be held at the Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio with The Ohio State University as the host institution while Arizona State University will host the West regional at Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz.

Six other conference champions join Stetson in the East Regional field, including Auburn (SEC), Denver (Sun Belt), Tulane (Conference USA), Furman (Southern Conference), Coastal Carolina (Big South) and Jackson State (SWAC).  The Hatters will be one of four Sunshine State squads participating, along with the host Gators, Florida State and UCF.

The top eight teams in each regional (54-hole tournament) will advance to the national championships along with the top two individuals in each regional from non-advancing teams.  Nine teams in the 2009 NCAA East Regional qualified for the 2008 National Championships, including third-place finisher Duke.

The Hatters earned their bid to the NCAA Tournament by capturing the program's first Atlantic Sun Conference championship on April 15 at Victoria Hills Golf Club in DeLand, the team's home course.  Junior Danielle Jackson (Seminole, Fla.) won the individual title with freshman Lauren Cate (St. Augustine, Fla.) earning runner-up honors; Jackson was later named Golf World Magazine National Women's College Player of the Week for her play.

GolfStat.com will have live scoring of all three regionals available online.

NCAA East Regional Participants (Golf Stat//Golf Week rankings in parentheses)

1.      Virginia (3//5)

2.      Auburn (7//7)

3.      Alabama (6//8)

4.      North Carolina (10//12)

5.      Duke (12//11)

6.      Denver (19//14)

7.      Tennessee (29//26)

8.      Vanderbilt (23//21)

9.      Georgia (14//15)

10.  Tulane (31//34)

11.  Florida (30//28)

12.  East Carolina (36//43)

13.  Mississippi (38//38)

14.  South Carolina (42//41)

15.  Furman (46//42)

16.  College of Charleston (50//56)

17.  Florida State (53//51)

18.  UCF (51//53)

19.  Coastal Carolina (89//89)

20.  Stetson (90//88)

21.  Jackson State (206//205)

Individuals ? Susannah Aboff (Princeton), Julia Potter (Missouri), Jessica Hollandsworth (Maryland)