Bowling 4-1 on first day in Alabama
2/26/2011 7:14:00 AM | Women's Bowling
The Sam Houston women's bowling team stands in a four-way tie for first place after the first day's action Friday at the Holiday Collegiate Classic in Bessemer, Ala.
No. 4 Nebraska, No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 6 Arkansas State and No. 10 Sam Houston all won four of their five matches.
The Bearkats opened the tournament with their 50th victory of the season, downing No. 3 Central Missouri 748-734. The Kats also defeated No. 11 Alabama A&M 763-678, unranked Minnesota State 683-651 and No. 14 Stephen F. Austin 788-698.
Sam Houston's only loss came at the hands of No. 6 Arkansas State 755-698.
"The girls performed well today," head coach Brad Hagen said. "Today was a great statement day for us especially after the last poll that was released and the slower first day starts we had in two of our tournaments in January. We proved today we're here to play.
"Tomorrow we have to continue to remain positive, keep the energy and momentum in our corner, remain hungry, and leave it all out there. We are treating every shot and tournament from here our like there is no tomorrow."
Friday's results up Sam Houston's NCAA match record to 53-27.
The tournament is Alabama is one of only two more major intercollegiate tournaments to go before the NCAA Division I championships in Detroit in April.
"This is another opportunity for our program and players to make a statement," head coach Brad Hagen said. "If we can remain focused on what we're trying to accomplished as we have in past tournaments, we have a good change to succeed."
Other top 20 teams in the Alabama event are No. 3 Central Missouri, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 5 Vanderbilt, No 6 Arkansas State, No. 11 Alabama A&M, No. 14 Stephen F. Austin and No. 20 Florida A&M. Sam Houston has met and defeated each of these ranked teams in earlier competitions this season.
Schedule for the tournament will call for five Baker pinfall matches on Friday (Feb. 25), five traditional team matches on Saturday (Feb. 26) and Baker match play on Sunday (Feb. 27) in the bracket finals.
The final regular season tournament for the bowlers will be the Music City Classic in Smyrna Tennessee March 18-20. The Bearkats' goal is to be one of the eight teams that earn a berth in the 2011 NCAA Division I national championship tournament April 14-16 in Detroit.
