Kats Tackle Top Teams In New Jersey
10/31/2013 2:38:00 PM | Women's Bowling
The No. 6-ranked Sam Houston women's bowling team faces a big test this weekend in their second tournament of the young 2013-14 season.
The Bearkats are one of 15 top 20-ranked squads competing in the Fairleigh Dickinson New Jersey Jamboree at Parkway Lanes in Elmwood Park, New Jersey.
Sam Houston has placed third in the prestigious tournament each of the two years the Kats have traveled to New Jersey (in 2011 and 2012).
This year's field features No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 4 Arkansas State, No. 5 Maryland-Eastern Shore, No. 7 Fairleigh Dickinson, No. 8 Wisconsin-Whitewater and No. 9 Stephen F. Austin along with the sixth-ranked Kats.
Other top 20 ranked entrants include No. 11 Adelphi, No. 12 Kutztown, No. 13 Sacred Heart, No. 14 Valapraiso, No. 16 LIU-Long Isliand, No. 18 New Jersey City, No. 19 Prairie View A&M and No. 20 Bethune-Cookman.
“This is a great opportunity for our young team to test themselves against the best in the country,” Sam Houston head coach Brad Hagen said. “We're looking forward to the competition."
Sam Houston was the runner-up in its first tournament of the year at Tulane two weeks ago. In traditional team competition, the Kats were led by Erin Brown (209.4 average), Neishka Cardona (208.8) and Becca Pittser (207.4).
The Bearkats return six bowlers from last year's squad that rolled up 102 dual match victories and earned Sam Houston's second NCAA Elite Eight berth in the program's three-season history. The squad won five regular season tournament champions.
Cardona and Kimi Davidson are seniors and have been members of all three previous Bearkat squads.
“Neishka and Kimi are our program's first four-year seniors,” Hagen said. “They know what it takes to get to the NCAA and are providing outstanding leadership for us. We've have a solid group of veteran players and we've helped ourselves in recruiting.”
Other players back from last year's squad that posted 42 victories over top 25 teams include Brown, Anna Groce and Pittser. Joining the squad are Janine Kuwahara, Madeleine McDuff and Jeanette Van Gundy.
