SHSU bowlers ready for NCAA Championship
4/10/2013 7:00:00 PM | Women's Bowling
CANTON, Mich. – The Sam Houston State women's bowling team will take is second crack at winning a national title on Thursday on the first day of the NCAA Championships.
Returning to the suburbs of Detroit, the host city of the Kats inaugural trip to the championship round, the Kats are looking to improve on the 2011 seventh-place finish. Even though they will be competing in a different facility than two years ago, head coach Brad Hagen thinks the experience of returning will play a big part in the success of the team this year.
“Kimi (Davidson) and Neishka (Cardona) were both with us here last time and they know what to expect,” Hagen said. “Nothing is new to us anymore. We are going into this with a pretty good understanding of what challenges will face us.”
Anna Groce, a freshman on this year's squad said the newcomers will lean on the experience of the two returning players.
“We just have to focus and keep our minds on what we came here to do,” Groce said. “We can't allow for any distractions, and just go out make spares and make good shots..”
The Kats, the No. 6 seed at this year's championship will play seven matches on Thursday, facing off against the other schools in the competition. The results of Thursday's play, will determine the seeding for Friday and Saturday's double elimination bracket play.
Hagen likes the team's chances once they get to Friday, where they have a 19-9 record on the season playing in the same format they will use for the elimination round.
“We don't have to go off tomorrow, but just for success I want to see the girls heads in the right places,” Hagen said. “I want to make sure mentally we are focused and we are just kind of enjoying this. It is a great opportunity for this university and these girls.”
Play will be gin on Thursday at 10:40 a.m. All matches will be streamed live at www.ncaa.com/liveschedule. Friday's double-elimination play will begin at 10:40 a.m. and the finals are Saturday at 7 p.m. The championship will be televised live on ESPNU.
