NCAA Championships Bound
3/30/2011 4:34:00 PM | Women's Bowling
The Bearkats were one of eight teams announced during the NCAA national selection show Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. and the scene in the lounge at the Ron Mafrige Field House was chaotic.
"My heart stopped and I was breathless when they announced Sam Houston," junior bowler Aida Sanchex. "We knew we were one of three teams on the bubble and they were announcing the teams in alphabetical order. When they went straight from Nebraska to Sam Houston State, we just couldn't believe it."
The Bearkats will join defending national champion Fairleigh Dickinson, Arkansas State, Central Missouri, Kutztown, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Nebraska and Vanderbilt in the field.
The 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Bowling Championship will be hosted by the University of Detroit Mercy and the Detroit Metro Sports Commission on April 14-16 at the Skore Lanes in Taylor, Michigan.
All eight berths in the national tournament are at-large selections. The selection criteria were overall won-lost record, head-to-head competition, results versus common opponents, overall strength of schedule and overall RPI.
"Obviously, we're excited and this has been a goal all season long for the entire team," Sam Houston head coach Brad Hagen said. "But, to me, what's even more important about our selection as a first year team is what this does for the sport of college bowling. This group has shown that a first-year program can make it. You get what you put into it and these girls have worked so hard to achieve what happened today."
Members of the team headed to Michigan are freshmen Neishka Cardona from Carolina Puerto Rico; Kimi Davidson from Azle, Texas and Shaina Woolbaugh from Kirkwood, NY, and juniors Dayna Galganski from West Palm Beach, Fla,; Lisa MacAllister from Kemp, Tex. And Aida Sanchez from the Domincan Republic.
The inaugural Sam Houston women's bowling team won one tournament, placed in the top three in four others and finished no lower than eighth in any of their appearances.
The Bearkats finished the regular season with a match record of 68 victories and 35 losses. The Bearkats stood No. 9 in the last National Tenpins Coaches Association (NTCA) women's bowling rankings announced March 17.
The Bearkats own at least one victory over every team in the top 10 except for New Jersey City. Sam Houston is 37-28 this year against squads ranked in the top 20.
" I am so proud of the job our girls have done this year," Hagen said. "Now it's on to Detroit."
