DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After checking in on last week's Golfstat rankings with a program-best No. 96 position, the Mercer women's golf team returns to action this weekend at the LPGA Invitational hosted by Xavier.

The LPGA Invitational is held at the Legends course at LPGA International GC and features a 15-team field.   18 holes of play are scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Mercer's ranking set a new standard this week as the team cracked the top-100 rankings for the first time in program history.

"The team members continue to work hard and it is paying off for them," Mercer head coach Gary Guyer said. "Breaking barriers is a fundamental philosophy in golf and this is a good milestone. Our team knows that getting in the Top 50 gets us to the NCAA's and that's our goal."

The Bears are led by two outstanding sophomores and freshman who have started off very strong in their first two events. Lacey Fears has one victory (EAT A PEACH Collegiate) and a 75.3 scoring average in her first two collegiate events of the year. Mary Alice has two second place finishes in the EAT A PEACH Collegiate and the Chris Banister Invitational while setting a personal best scoring average of 73.3. Sarah Louie, freshman, has solidified herself as a starter on the team. She finished second in the EAT A PEACH Collegiate and has a scoring average of 75.3.

Finishing out the five players that will compete for the Mercer Bears are juniors Kimmy Graff and Aurelie Wiriath.  The junior duo finished tied for fourth at the EAT A PEACH Collegiate. This will be their third tournament of the year and have become consistent starters for Mercer. Both juniors played in the 2010 A-Sun Conference Championship, helping set a school scoring record.

Mercer competings against a familiar and tough field that includes four individuals ranked in the top 100 by Golfstat and eight teams in the top 150. Including Mercer, there are 15 teams returning to this year's event.

LPGA International sets the standard of excellence for women's golf- offering challenging courses, quality service, and immaculate conditions. Since 1994, the LPGA International has been the home course of the LPGA Tour. Conveniently located near I-95 in Daytona Beach, Florida, it gained its notoriety as the host of numerous LPGA Tour Championships and is now the host of the final state of the LPGA Tour Qualifying School.