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SUGAR GROVE, Ill. -- The Illinois men's golf team secured a spot in the NCAA Men's Golf match play quarterfinals for the fifth consecutive season after a third place finish in the stroke play portion of the 2017 NCAA Men's Golf Championship. The Illini will be the No. 3 seed, advancing to face the No. 6 seed USC in match play on Tuesday morning with a spot in the Tuesday afternoon semifinals on the line. Illinois matches will begin at 7 a.m. Live Golf Channel coverage will begin at 10 a.m. Illinois has advanced to the match play quarterfinals at the NCAA Championship in six of the last seven seasons. 

On a windy day when no team finished better than 5-over par, the Illini posted a 16-over par after shooting 14-under during the tournament's first three rounds. Dylan Meyer led the Orange and Blue through stroke play, finishing at 4-under par and tied for sixth place individually. Meyer shot a 5-over par 77 today, including a clutch birdie on No. 17, the course's hardest rated hole, while the Illini teetered on the edge of the cut line.

"I think the conditions dictated how our players felt today," head coach Mike Small said. "The conditions made this a very tough day, there was a lot of carnage out there from a lot of teams. We survived, that's what we did. We didn't play our best, but we survived. We hit the shots that we had to at the end, which was rewarding, as a coach. We had too many loose shots and we have a lot to cover as a team that we need to improve upon, but the ending was special. The finish is something that we always talk about, so that's what makes me the most proud."

Edoardo Lipparelli added his second eagle of the round on the 18th hole just minutes after Meyer's birdie on No. 17 to guarantee Illinois' spot among the top eight teams. The sophomore was 4-over par for the final round of stroke play, and finished 1-under par in a for 16th place overall.

Junior Nick Hardy led Illinois on Monday with a final round tally of 3-over par. He also recorded a clutch birdie for the Orange and Blue on No. 14, helping to swing the momentum for the squad. A final-round 75 put him in a tie for 39th place individually as he finished 5-over par through four rounds of play.

Freshman Michael Feagles was also one stroke back of Hardy today to count in the Illinois' top four. Feagles birdied three consecutive holes on the front nine to post an Illini-best 2-under par at the turn before finishing the day at 4-over par. 

Freshman Giovanni Tadiotto shot 8-over par on Monday, finishing at 11-over par in a tie for 65th. 

The winner of the Illinois and USC match will move on to face the winner of No. 2 Oklahoma versus No. 7 Baylor. Vanderbilt, which earned the No. 1 seed, Oklahoma State, Oregon and UNLV also qualified for match play. Braden Thornberry of Ole Miss (-11) won the individual title. 

The 2017 NCAA Men's Golf Championships are being held at Rich Harvest Farms (7,300 yards, Par 72) in Sugar Grove, Illinois.

 Live scoring for the tournament is available on Golfstat and a recap will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each day of play. The match play quarterfinals will  air live on the Golf Channel from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. CT. The semifinal round is slated to begin at 1:30 p.m., with live Golf Channel coverage beginning at 3 p.m. Fans interested in purchasing tickets for the day can click here. 

Golf Channel NCAA Men's Golf Championships Coverage (all times CT)

Here's how the #Illini finished up the stroke play portion of #NCAAGolf pic.twitter.com/RnUNeB8ZbV

— Illini M Golf (@IlliniMGolf) May 30, 2017