MIAMI, Fla. - FIU women's golf standout
Karissa Kilby claimed the 114th Manoa Cup Women's Championship after coming out on top 2-up in match play over Kellie Yamane for the title at the Oahu Country Club on Friday.
Kilby, a native of Honolulu, Hawaii, captured the title in just her first Manoa Cup appearance since 2019, in which she finished runner-up her last time out at the event.
Kilby reached the finals with a trio of match play wins, downing Ava Cepeda, 3 & 2, in the quarterfinals and Chloe Jang, 2 & 1, in the semifinals to reach the championship round.
"It means a lot," Kilby said following her win. "The last time I played in this, I was 16 and I've been battling a wrist injury since then and I made it to the finals. So it's nice to come back and finally get it done. It's my first win in five years, actually, and I've just been battling a lot of things since then and it's really nice to do it at home.
"To have my family here and my best friend in the finals with me, it was a really fun day. I'm really grateful for everything."
Kilby provided another exceptional season for the Panthers in her second year with the program,representing FIU at the NCAA Regionals as she collected four top-10 finishes, including a pair of runner-up finishes, and three top-20 finishes through eight tournaments for the 2022-23 season.
Additionally, the sophomore finished par or better in nine rounds this season, highlighted by a career low performance at the Johnie Imes Invitational on Sept. 28 with a 2-under-par 214 to finish runner-up. Kilby also finished runner-up at the Babs Steffens Invitational on Mar. 28 en route to seeing FIU secure its first tournament victory since 2019.
Kilby collected a number of accolades as a First Team All-Confernce USA selection, C-USA All-Academic Second Team and CSC Academic All-District honoree.
