SHSU 6-6 in 7th place in Valparaiso event
11/8/2014 6:47:00 PM | Women's Bowling
The Sam Houston women's bowling team stands 6-6 after the second day at the Crusader Classic in Valparaiso, Indiana.
The Bearkats again went 3-3, this time in tradition team play. Janine Kuwahara led the Bearkats in tradition team action with a 195.83 avearge including a high game of 215. She ranked 11th among the tournament's individuals.
No. 6 Central Missouri defeated the Kats 974-949 in Saturday's opening match. The Kats lost to No. 2Arkansas Sstate 1,069-819 in their second contest.
Sam Houston bounced back with an 880-818 win over Prairie View but dropped a 1,048-912 decision to No. 1 Nebraska in a rematch of last year's NCAA finals in Cleveland.
The Bearkats closed out the day with a 1,023-941 win over Alabama State and an 886-750 victory over Elmhurst.
"Today was another slow start but we managed to get out of the day .500," SHSU head coach Brad Hagen said. "This is a big learning curve for us this weekend and this team is handling the adversity well. This squad truly knows how to be a team. We have a lot of bowling left to do and can still save the weekend with a solid Sunday. "
Friday in quad baker action, the SHSU women opened with a 1,002-903 victory over Vanderbilt but fell to Wisconsin-Whitewater 1,113-955 in the second contest of the day.
The Bearkats rallied to defeat McKendree 920-852 and Monmouth 1,045-926 in back-to-back matches. But things turned as Tulane defeated the Kats 946-901 and Alma College of Michigan knocked off the defending national champions 992-810 to end the day.
Wisconsin-Whitewater goes into Sunday's best-of-seven bracket play in first place with a 9-3 record and a total pin fall of 11,900.
Nebraska (9-3, 11,740) is seeded second, followed by Vanderbilt (9-3, 11,715), Arkansas State (7-5, 11,423) and Central Missouri (10-2, 11,394).
Sam Houston enters bracket play seeded eighth in the tournament field.
The tournament is hosted by Valparaiso University at Inman's Recreation Center in Valparaiso, Indiana.
The Bearkats are one of 10 nationally-ranked squads in the 14-team field. Other top 20 teams competing include No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Arkansas State, No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 6 Central Missouri, No. 8 Wisconsin-Whitewater, No. 16 McKendree, No. 18 Alabama State, No. 20 Monmouth and host No. 15 Valparaiso.
The Valparaiso Crusader Classic is Sam Houston's third event of the year but it will be the first change the Bearkats have to face rivals Nebraska, Central Missouri and Arkansas State. The SHSU women defeated Nebraska in the NCAA finals last April to earn the women's bowling national championship.
Saturday Results:
Match 1
SHSU 949 vs Central Missouri 974 = SHSU Loss
Match 2
SHSU 819 vs. Arkansas State 1069 = SHSU Loss
Match 3
SHSU 880 vs. PVA&M 818 = SHSU Win
Match 4
SHSU 912 vs Nebraska 1048 = SHSU Loss
Match 5
SHSU 1023 vs. Alabama State 941 = SHSU Win
Match 6
SHSU 886 vs. Elmhurst 750 = SHSU Win
