COLUMBUS, Ohio (May 9, 2017) -- FIU senior Camila Serrano (Bogota, Colombia) tied for the low round of the day, shooting a 2-under 70 and climbed into the top 10 after two rounds, at 3-over (77-70  147) Tuesday from the NCAA Columbus Regional Tournament. The regional, hosted by The Ohio State University, is being contested on the par-72, 6,416-yard Scarlet Course at the OSU Golf Club and concludes with 18 holes Wednesday to determine which teams and players advance to the National Championship.
 
Serrano was just one of nine players of the 96-player field to go under par for the day, and one of only five to post a 2-under score. She moved up 13 spots on the leaderboard and into a tie for ninth place at the event through two rounds.
 
Teeing off with the top three individuals at the event, the 2017 Conference USA Golfer of the Year shot par on the first and bogeyed the second hole, but finished her opening nine with six pars and a birdie on the par-5, sixth hole to post an even-par 36 at the turn. Then, she turned her round up a notch. Serrano posted birdies on the 11^th, 14^th and 16^th to go with four pars before a stumble at the par-3, 17^th, where a bogey kept her from the low round of the day. She posted par on the par-4 18^th for the 70 and the top-10 finish.
 
"She was under control of her game from start to finish," said FIU Head Coach Joe Vogel. "The wind wasn't blowing as hard, but it was still chilly and the greens are as quick as lightning. She kept the ball on the greens today and below the hole, so she gave herself chances to make birdies. She figured out the speed of the greens and when she missed a putt, it was still near the pin. She putted well yesterday, but she took it to another level today and made more putts. She could have had a really low round today, but you can't say enough about the round as a whole. It was fun to watch. I am really proud of her game today. She put herself in position, which is where you want to be in the final day."
 
For the tournament, Serrano's five birdies are tied for 15^th in the field, while her 24 pars are three away from the tournament leader. She is one of just five players to combine to shoot better than 2-over on the par-4 holes, and one of 19 in the field to sit below par on the par-5 holes for the week.
 
Serrano is now the top player invited to play as an individual by score. If the regional ended now, she would be tied for the last individual spot invited to the National Championship, and the tie would be broken with a sudden-death playoff.
 
At the conclusion of the event, the top six of the invited 18 teams and the best six individuals by final score on a team not advancing, will be moving onto the National Championships, which will take place May 19-24 in Sugar Grove, Illinois, at Rich Harvest Farms.
 
Because she is the top individual at the event so far, Serrano will tee off again from the first hole Wednesday morning, right after the top three teams go off from number one, to begin the final round of play at the regional. The scheduled tee time is 8:15 a.m. Eastern and she will be playing with the next two top individuals by score, Emma Albrecht (150, tied for 18^th overall) of Notre Dame and Loy Hee Ying (151, tied for 22^nd) of East Tennessee State.
 
Fans can follow along with live scoring links posted at FIUSports.com on Wednesday.

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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including Lime Court at FIU Arena and at Riccardo Silva Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute.  FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.