Jessica Lieber Signs with UIS

Jessica Lieber signed to play golf at University of Illinois- Springfield.

Jessica will join another Streaks' alum, Sara Baker at UIS. Sara will be a senior on the volleyball team next year.

The following is from the Register-Mail by Matt Wheaton.

Jessica Lieber has been playing golf only since her freshman year at Galesburg High School.

However, the GHS senior has worked countless hours at improving her game and it paid off Thursday when she signed a national letter of intent to play golf at the University of Illinois — Springfield, an NCAA Division II school.

"I really like the school itself and I love the golf program," said Lieber, who shoots an 18-hole average of 75 and 9-hole average of 38. "They just got a new coach last year, so they are building up the program. I'm excited to play with the incoming recruits."

Lieber, who made four straight appearances at the IHSA Class AA state girls golf tournament, joins a UIS team that finished eighth at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Women's Golf Championship in the 2011-12 season.

"I like her game. She hits the ball pretty long for most of the kids her age, which will be a big thing for her in college," UIS women's golf coach Frank Marsaglia said. "She won't have as big a learning curve. She will be an integral part of our team next year. She is going to excel in college. I know that.

"Last year, we finished eighth in the conference and 17th in region. Currently, we're 13th in the region," he added. "We've improved since the beginning of the year. With Jessica and the rest of the class coming in I expect us to compete in the top three in conference. The goal is to finish in the top nine in the region, which gets you to the postseason. If they play like I think they can we should be there."

Lieber, a 5-foot-3 guard, led the 18-13 Silver Streaks with an average of 16.8 points and 4.4 assists in her final season in a Galesburg basketball uniform. She finished as the Western Big 6 Conference's leading scorer with a 20.6 points per game average in the league. Lieber was the conference's most prolific 3-point shooter going 31-for- 102 in the league (31.6 percent). She was an honorable mention selection to the Associated Press Class 3A All-State basketball team, a member of the All-WB6 team and a member of the IBCA Class 3A/4A girls All-State third team.

Lieber won't be suiting up for the Prairie Stars women's basketball team.

"It's extremely hard, but I know it's what is best for me and my body considering I was getting hurt playing basketball," said Lieber, who has played basketball since the age of 2. "My height really factored into how big of a school I could have played basketball at. I wanted to go to a bigger school, so I decided to play Division II golf. I'm going to miss playing every day and the team environment, but it will help having a family atmosphere with my new golf team."

"She concentrated a lot on basketball and once she concentrates fully on golf I think a lot more talent will come out," Marsaglia said. "Once she is dedicated to golf full time there will be a lot more improvement."

While Lieber's golf game has come a long way, she hopes to improve even more. In May, she will play 36 holes in a U.S. Open sectional qualifier at the Algonquin Golf Club in St. Louis.

"I'd like to build my game up to the point of maybe going pro someday," Lieber said.