When the women’s golf team tees off this weekend at the Texas A&M “Mo” Morial Invitational, head coach Angie Ravaioli-Larkin said its main focus will be believing in the strength of each player’s game.”We are going to focus on confidence and playing our own game,” Ravaioli-Larkin said.

Junior Catherine Matranga also said confidence will be an important factor going into the tournament.

“We are working on having a lot of confidence, and it’s there for most of us now,” Matranga said. “We want to show A&M that we can win on their course.”

Although A&M is ranked No. 20 by Golfweek, Matranga said, she thinks the team is strong enough to beat the Aggies.

“We know we are just as good, if not better,” Matranga said. “We’ve all been working really hard knowing that this is what we want really badly right now.”

Ravaioli-Larkin said one way for the Lady Frogs to manage this feat is to concentrate on strengths they have and play their own game.

“We need to focus strongly on our short game,” she said. “We have been building off some of our good rankings.”

Ravaioli-Larkin also said the players have been hitting well on their long shots, keeping them straight and getting to the greens. Although this is one thing that will help the Lady Frogs in the future, the coach said, the present is where they will play for now.

“We take it one tournament at a time,” Ravaioli-Larkin said. “We don’t really put emphasis on one tournament over another.”

Junior Camille Blackerby, along with Matranga, will be playing No. 1 and No. 2 for the team, respectively, thanks to their play at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic Feb. 24 through Feb. 26. Ravaioli-Larkin said she is looking forward to their play at A&M, along with their teammates sophomore Carrie Morris and junior Elin Emanuelsson, as well.

“I’m looking for (Blackerby and Matranga) to do some great things,” she said. “Carrie had one of her best performances at Puerto Rico and almost a breakthrough … The game is there physically and technically.”

Matranga said all that is left for the team to do in order to win the tournament is to increase its mental toughness.

“It’s not the game – it’s on us now,” Matranga said. “We just need to go out there and do it.”

Ravaioli-Larkin said she thinks her team is fully capable of doing just that.

“It’s anybody’s ballgame when you tee it up,” Ravaioli-Larkin said.