DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Mercer University women’s golf team is set to compete in the Xavier LPGA Invitational at the Legends course at the LPGA International Golf Course. The 14-team field plays its practice round on Thursday in preparation for the three-day tournament.

The Bears are led by their two outstanding freshmen who have started off very strong in their first two events. Lacey Fears has one victory (EAT A PEACH Collegiate) and a Top-10 finish in her first two collegiate events of the year. Mary Alice Murphy has a third place finish to go along with another Top-10 at the Chris Bannister Classic Invitational.

Finishing out the five players that will compete for the Mercer Bears are junior Alicia Poole and sophomores Kaitlin Marrin and Aurelie Wiriath. Poole also recorded a top-5 finish at the EAT A PEACH Collegiate and has become a mainstay in the Bears lineup. All three played in the 2010 A-Sun Conference Championship and helped set a school scoring record.

Mercer is competing against a familiar and tough field that includes four individuals ranked in Golfstat’s top-100 by and eight teams in the website’s top-150. Including Mercer, there are 12 teams returning to this year’s event.

Last year, Daytona State was victorious on the team and individual front. The team came in first last year with a 17-over-par 881. Amy West won the tournament with a 3-under-par 213. Xavier came in fourth place, led by Rachel Levi who finished in second place behind West. Levi earned CAA Golfer of the Week honors after her performance. Campbell and Stetson finished in second and third respectively.

The field includes a large crop of young talent. The five top ranked players in the field are all sophomores. Daytona State’s Mitsuki Katahira is the highest-ranked individual, earning Golfstat’s No. 4 for her performances this season. Katahira tied for third at last year’s Xavier LPGA Int’l Invitational. Last year’s medalist Amy West is currently ranked No. 34.

Mercer’s freshman duo of Fears and Murphy are ranked 207th and 229^th, respectively.

Mercer’s action begins Friday at 9:10 a.m.