BATON ROUGE – Defending Class AAA state golf champion Ali Lucas will be back to defend her title next week.

The Notre Dame junior standout qualified for the two-day state tournament by once again winning the Division II, Region I tournament last week at the LSU golf course.

Lucas topped the regional field, carding a 77 to edge out St. Louis’ April Henderson by one stroke. University High’s Robyn Daniel and Episcopal’s Taylor Griffin both followed with an 81.

Lucas helped lead the Notre Dame girls’ team to a sixth-place finish overall last year in the state tournament by shooting back-to-back rounds of 77. She claimed top individual honors with her two-day total of 154. Griffin was last year’s runnerup with a 157 while Daniel was sixth with a 166.

Lucas will begin her title defense Monday when she tees off at the Alexandria Golf and Country Club in Woodworth in the first day of the state tournament.