NCAA MoTown Momentum
4/6/2011 10:02:00 AM | Women's Bowling
"We're going to prepare for this tournament just as we have for each of the previous events this year," SHSU head bowling coach Brad Hagen said. "The girls have worked hard all year to earn an NCAA berth and they did it. What they're doing is working. We're not going to change anything now."
The Bearkats are one of eight teams in the championships. The three-day event will be 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.
The Bearkats will join defending national champion Fairleigh Dickinson, Arkansas State, Central Missouri, Kutztown, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Nebraska and Vanderbilt in the field.
Rounds 1 through 4 will be webcast live on www.NCAA.com . Saturday's finals will be televised nationally on a delayed basis on ESPN. The telecast will air Sunday afternoon April 17 at 1:30 p.m. Huntsville time.
"Becoming one of the eight teams in the NCAA Championships as a first-year program truly has been a team effort," Hagen said. "Each of these women has accepted her position on the team and made key contributions. They are excited about the opportunity we have to make it to the finals and put Sam Houston on national ESPN television once more."
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 completed the regular season with a match record of 68 victories and 35 losses. They own at least one victory over every team in the NCAA top eight. Sam Houston's records against the other seven competitors are Arkansas State 2-3, Central Missouri 2-3, Fairleigh Dickinson 1-2, Kutztown 1-3, Maryland-Eastern Shore 2-3, Nebraska 2-1 and Vanderbilt 3-3.
Action in the NCAA bowling tournament will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday morning with the eight teams dueling in a round-robin schedule of traditional team matches. The won-loss records from those contests will be used to seed bracket play beginning Friday. In the event two teams have the same record, their seeding will be decided by head-to-head competition.
Double elimination bracket play begins Friday morning. Format for the bracket matches will be best of seven Baker play.
"The championships are being held in an amazing facility and its going to be a great event," Hagen said. "This is the opportunity we have been working towards all season and the girls are ready to make the most of it."
