Dylan Menante leads Pepperdine to Valspar Collegiate Invite title

It's been a while since we've heard from the Pepperdine Waves but the defending NCAA Champions are very well aware their key to a successful title defense is peaking at the right time of the year.

With the championship season approaching rapidly, Pepperdine's internal alarm clock sounded loudly at the Floridian National Golf Club, where the Waves won the Valspar Collegiate Invitational on Tuesday by 14 shots over No. 22 Florida State. It was the second tournament win of the season for the defending NCAA champions, following its win at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate in the fall.

Fourth-ranked Pepperdine strung together rounds of 274-266-278 to finish 34-under 818, running away from a field that included six teams ranked in the Golfweek/Sagarin Top-25 poll, including three top-five programs in No. 3 Arizona State, No. 5 North Carolina and No. 7 Texas Tech.

After posting four second-place finishes last season, junior Dylan Menante broke through with his first collegiate victory, claiming medalist honors at 14-under 199, which was good for a one-stroke win over Florida State's Frederik Kjettrup.

Menante, who won the Northeast Amateur last summer, opened with rounds of 64-65 to take a one-shot lead heading into Tuesday's play. He increased his lead by making five birdies on his first 13 holes and hung on for a one-stroke victory over Kjettrup.

Senior Joe Highsmith finished ninth at 7-under 206 (68-66-72) while junior William Mouw tied for 10th with a 6-under 207 (71-69-67).

Pepperdine will return to action at the Western Intercollegiate, April 11-13, where it will defend its title at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif.