No. 5 bowlers challenge top teams in Arkansas
1/12/2011 11:10:00 PM | Women's Bowling
The event will be held at the Allfam Bowl facility in Cabot, Ark.
Sam Houston is one of 15 teams entered in the Mid-Winter Invitational. Eleven of the 15 squads in the event are ranked among the top 20 teams in NCAA Division I women's bowling.
"We're looking forward to the challenge of another top field," Sam Houston head coach Brad Hagen said. "We turned some heads during the fall. Now we want to continue to prove we are a contender."
Top 20 teams participating in the Mid-Winter Invitational include Maryland-Eastern Shore (No. 1), Nebraska (3), Central Missouri (4), Arkansas State (6), Vanderbilt (12), Valparaiso (13), Alabama A&M (14), Stephen F. Austin (15), Delaware State (17) and Louisiana Tech (20)
Sam Houston jumped into the No. 5 spot in the National Tenpins Coaches Association December national poll announced in December.
During the program's first two months of competition in October and November, the Bearkats playing in major intercollegiate tournaments in Missouri, Delaware and New Jersey, finishing as the runner-up in one event and third in the other two.
The SHSU bowlers rolled up a 28-13 record in the competitions that included 18 victories over teams listed in the NTCA's September preseason poll.
Sam Houston defeated nine of the top 10 teams in the preseason poll including victories over the squads that have won the last three NCAA national titles - Fairleigh-Dickinson, Maryland-Eastern Shore and Vanderbilt.
"We certainly have gotten the attention of everyone in the college bowling world," Hagen said. "Our seven girls have done a tremendous job this fall. We want to remain on course towards our goal of the NCAA championship in Detroit in April."
Nebraska is the only member of the NTCA's top 10 that Sam Houston has not defeated. If the Kats do not get a shot at the Huskers in Arkansas, they will another opportunity to remedy that when the Kats travel to Lincoln for the Big Red Invitational hosted by Nebraska in their next tournament beginning Jan. 20.
