Mike Van Sickle is at it again.

The Marquette senior standout, currently ranked as the No. 3 collegiate golfer in the country according to the Golfstat Cup rankings, has jumped out to the top of the standings in yet another tournament, this time at the rain-soaked 2009 Pinehurst Intercollegiate by Gatorade in Pinehurst, N.C.

Van Sickle, who finished Sunday's first round with a 2-under-par 70, birdied three out of the first six holes on Monday, but couldn't continue his hot start and finished with a 1-under 71. He is currently sitting in a three-way tie for second place.

"He's doing a lot of the same things he's been doing," coach Tim Grogan said. "He needs to be patient because of the weather and I think the outcomes going to be pretty positive."

As a team, Marquette is behind most of the competition while playing on the Centennial Pinehurst No. 8 course. The Golden Eagles came in to Monday tied for eighth, but shot a second consecutive 298 to fall back to a tie for 11th place at 20-over as a team.

Redshirt freshman Matt Hasse turned in a solid performance on the first day, firing a 2-over-par 74, but struggled out of the gate Monday to finish with a 5-over 77.

Hasse's total of 7-over is good enough for a tie for 49th and the second Marquette golfer on the leader board.

Sophomores Kelly Kretz and Ben Sieg both currently sit in a tie for 64th at 9-over par, while senior Dustin Schwab showed the most improvement from Sunday, as he followed up a 9-over 81 with a 3-over 75 to earn a tie for 82nd.

"It's a tough golf course to make birdies on," Sieg said. "If you make a few bogeys, it's tough to get them back right away."

Schwab said the members of the team have started well, but haven't been able to continue the success on the back nine.

"We started very well both times," Schwab said. "I think we were all under par through eight or nine holes then didn't have a good back nine. We've started well and haven't really finished well."

Grogan was also disappointed in the lack of consistency.

"I wouldn't say this is a young group, but they're acting like inexperienced golfers right now." he said. "It's very frustrating, but until they prove it and go out and finish it, that's where that at right now. We have to grow up, golf-wise."

Despite the struggles, Sieg said it only takes one day to change things around.

"The thing about golf is, the more teams you beat the better," he said. "If we can go out and shoot the lowest score of the day, we probably won't be able to grab first, but we'll be in a pretty good position."

Michigan State, current holder of Golfweek's No. 24 ranking, is the frontrunner for the team title at 4-over-par, good enough for a three stroke lead over both Virginia Tech and Penn State. After coming into Monday in sixth place, a sizzling combined score of 3-under 285 helped the Spartans leapfrog several teams going into the final day of the tournament.