The Sam Houston women's bowling team swept undefeated through five matches Saturday, picking up a pair of victories over national top 20 opponents on the second day of the Great Ozark Invitational in Springfield, Mo.
The 10-team competition is being held at Enterprise Park in Springfield.
The victories gave the Bearkats the second seed going into Sunday's best four of seven match play step ladder finals.
The day's highlight was a 945-912 victory over host team Central Missouri, the No. 5 rated team nationally. Sam Houston also downed No. 17 Minnesota State 973-809.
In the other three matches during Saturday's competition, the Kats defeated Prairie View A&M 860-820, Elmhurst 880-845 and Southern University 892-769.
"I was very proud of the girls," Sam Houston head coach Brad Hagen said. "They showed up this morning with a clear mind and a clear vision. Our communication and transitions throughout the day were spot on and we took advantage of our breaks today when we got them. "
Sam Houston started the tournament on Friday going 2-3 in five Baker matches.
"Friday was tough for us ," Hagen said. "Even though I felt we had a great game plan going in and a good look early, we can't always predict how certain centers will play and or break down so sometime defense in bowling does exist and we have to grind it out. Saturday was a new day."
Undefeated Arkansas State is the No. 1 seed going into Sunday's final.
"We'll have a tough match right out of the gate with Arkansas State," Hagan said.
Individually for Sam Houston, Neishka Cardona has helped lead the way for the team, averaging 192.6 for an 11th place finish overall in the tournament.
Other Sam Houston places out of the more than 80 bowlers in the event are Dayna Galganski 24th, Lisa Cummins, Lisa Cummins 26th, Aida Sanchez 33rd and Kimi Davidson 34th.
