This post was updated Oct. 24 at 12:05 a.m.

Midterms and illness are the death and taxes of college life, and Bruin golfers lives are no exception.

UCLA women’s golf placed sixth at the Stanford Intercollegiate in Palo Alto, California, this weekend. The Bruins’ 3-under 849 earned them a spot in the upper third of the field, as the unranked squad beat out five top-25 opponents despite multiple players experiencing illness and studying for tests between rounds.

“Sixth place in this type of field is a wonderful feat,” said coach Alicia Um Holmes. “We’re really progressing, just taking it day by day, trying to be a little bit better each and every time we go out.”

The results seem to indicate progress, as the Bruins climbed seven spots from their tournament performance last year. A five-place improvement at the Windy City Collegiate Classic on Sept. 30 in Golf, Illinois, mirrored this upward trend.

Although the team still has room to grow, senior Meghan Royal will be hard-pressed to top her Stanford performance, where she matched her career-best score of 207. Royal carded a bogey-less 6-under 65 – her personal best score across 18 holes and the sixth best in program history.

“The round itself felt like an accumulation of all the work I’ve been putting in,” Royal said.

Royal added that her teammates’ “grit and determination” was on display across the weekend. Sophomore Maye Huang also boasted a below-par perfomance, carding a 2-under 211.

Freshman Kacey Ly, sophomore Angela Liu and sophomore Jenny Lee rounded out the lineup, with Ly tying for 37th at four over and the sophomore pair tying for 46th at five over, respectively.

Although Um Holmes said the weather at Stanford treated the squad fairly, she added that UCLA faced some challenges off the course throughout the event. UCLA midterm season is at a peak, and Um Holmes also said illness affected four Bruins throughout the tournament.

“It was pretty stressful, but we just spent our free time catching up on school and then playing golf during the day,” Huang said.

Huang added that she was one of the sick players but still recorded 14 birdies across the event, attributing the feat to a higher accuracy on full swing shots.

Royal also balanced academics and golf throughout her standout performance.

“I was studying for a test I had (Monday) every single day,” Royal said. “Being a student athlete, one doesn’t really come before the other. They both happen simultaneously.”

Five ranked teams, including No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 USC and No. 3 Oregon edged out UCLA, and the hometown team captured the trophy for a second consecutive year.

The Bruins will face the Cardinal again next week in their last event of the fall since both teams will head to the Nanea Invitational in Hawaiʻi starting Oct. 27.

Um Holmes said in the few days ahead of that, the team will have three practices to fine-tune a few elements of each golfer’s game before heading west.

“It’s just catching up on schoolwork, getting reenergized, feeling rested, recovered,” Um Holmes said.