Savannah, Ga. – Western Carolina climbed two spots in the team standings over the final round at The Invitational at Savannah Harbor on Sunday, coming home in 10th overall with a three-round score of 886. Sophomore Louis Theys and freshman Quinton Metz paced the team with matching 1-under par final round scores of 71 while freshman Pierre Viallaneix was WCU's top finisher in a tie for 17th at the par-72, 6,918-yard course.
 
WCU's team 886 over the weekend is the squad's third-best 54-hole team score of the season and its fourth top 10 team finish of 2019-20.
 
Viallaneix matched a trio of bogeys with three birdies and 12 total pars to shoot even-par over the final 18 holes, his best round of the event. The Apopka, Fla., native posted a team-best score of 220 over the weekend. Theys jumped 12 spots in the final order with his best round of the event at 1-under par. A product of Villers-Perwin, Belgium, Theys bounced back from a first-hole bogey on the par-4 12th to card two birdies to make the turn to the front nine with 11 holes remaining at 1-under par. He played under-par until the par-4 fifth which he bogeyed to move back to even. Theys birdied his penultimate hole on the par-4 10th, adding 71 for his three-round tally of 221.
 
Metz bounced back from consecutive bogeys to start the day with three birdies to sit at 1-under par 10 holes into his final round. A fourth birdie left the Wilkesboro, N.C., native poised for a 2-under round before a bogey on his 18th hole – the par-5 13th – left him at 1-under and his collegiate career-low round of 71. Metz finished tied for 71st overall at 230, up 19 spots in the final pecking order.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring were sophomore Tumi Kúld in a tie for 45th overall at 224, shooting 5-over 77 on Sunday, while freshman Magnus Peders3n came home in a tie for 63rd at 228. Pedersen posted his best round of the event over the final 18 holes, carding an even-par round of 72, countering four bogeys with four birdies.
 
WCU finished fourth in the field in par-4 scoring at +17 (4.11), charting 170 pars and 35 birdies as Pedersen posted 10 birdies to lead the squad – one ahead of his classmate, Viallaneix, with nine.
 
Valparaiso edged runner-up Wright State, which climbed two spots on Sunday, by two strokes in the final standings, 869-to-871. The Raiders were led to second by individual medalist Austin Schoonmaker with a three-round score of 7-under par, 209. Francis Marion finished third with a score of 878 while Delaware (879) slid three spots into fourth and Florida A&M rounded out the top five at 881.
 
Schoonmaker (69-70-70) likewise claimed a two-stroke victory, finishing just ahead of Delaware's Hugo Kedzlie (70-70-71), 209-to-211.
 
Western Carolina returns to action March 2-3, traveling to the Sunshine State for the Fort Lauderdale Intercollegiate, hosted by Loyola-Maryland at the Fort Lauderdale Country Club.
 
10 – Western Carolina – 297-303-286 = 886 (+22)
T17 – Pierre Viallaneix (1) – 75-73-72 = 220 (+4)
T23 – Louis Theys (5) – 73-77-71 = 221 (+5)
T45 – Tumi Kúld (3) – 75-72-77 = 224 (+8)
T63 – Magnus Pedersen – 74-82-72 = 228 (+12)
T71 – Quinton Metz (4) – 78-81-71 = 230 (+14)