Kats rebound for big wins in Nebraska
1/22/2011 7:46:00 AM | Women's Bowling
Lincoln, Nebr. -- Bouncing back from a tough opening day, the Sam Houston women's bowling team posted three big victories in the final two days of the Big Red Invitational hosted by the University of Nebraska.
In Baker best four of seven play on Saturday, the Bearkats defeated No. 6 Arkansas State 4-2 and blanked No. 1 Maryland-East Shore 4-0. On Friday, the bowling team handed No. 19 Minnesota State a 949-932 loss and bested Bethune-Cookman 1,002-774.
The Bearkats finished the tournament Saturday ranked sixth in the final average pin totals. Central Missouri led the event with a 203.51 average, followed by Vanderbilt 202.96, Nebraska 201.16, Maryland-Eastern Shore 198.53, Arkansas 194.48, Sam Houston 190.51, Valparaiso 186.26, Elmhurst 180.72, Bethune-Cookman 173.80 and Minnesota State 171.69.
Dayna Galganski of Sam Houston finished ranked third among individual pin averages at the Big Red Invitational Kara Richard of Central Missouri led the event with a 233 mean. Danielle van der Meer was second with a 221 average and Galganski posted a 218.25 mark.
"To blank the No. 1 team in the country 4-0 in our final match of the tournament really closed out the trip on a high note," Sam Houston head coach Brad Hagen said.
Sam Houston opened play Thursday night with three close losses, falling to host No. 3 Nebraska 770-749, Elmhurst 760-665 and No. 13 Valparaiso 749-718.
Friday's play also included losses to No. 1 Maryland-Eastern Shore (981-961) and No. 4 Central Missouri (1,053-951). The Bearkats ended the weekend 4-6.
"Our win-loss record this weekend didsn't reflect how well we've been playing," Sam Houston head coach Brad Hagen said. "The girls have had great poise and great looks, but on Thursday we have had zero breaks or carry. Thursday we had 52 nine-pin counts for 12 baker games, which is equal to 144 frames. More than a third of our shots were nine counts. But we got some bad breaks again with zero carry."
Dayna Galganski lead the way in Friday shooting 873 for four games and an average of 218.25 pins. She highlighted her day with a fourth game 253. Also adding crucial sticks at the end of the day were Aida Sanchez with a four-game average of 190.25 and Neishka Cardona coming in the last two games with an average of 202.5/
"It's been a demanding weekend but the girls continued to grind it out," Hagen said. "They had a 97 percent on single pin spares (74 of 76) Friday. Our goal is simple Saturday - get wins, get back to even par and move on. Some tournaments you have to just roll with the punches, grind it out and make the best of it. Thus far thats exactly what we're doing."
