Kats No. 4 Seed at Inaugural Southland Event
3/19/2015 7:36:00 PM | Women's Bowling
Sam Houston will be the No. 4 seed at the inaugural Southland Bowling League championship Saturday and Sunday, March 21-22, at Del Mar Lanes in Houston.
The defending NCAA champions are one of eight teams in the newly-formed consortium of eight NCAA women's bowling programs competing for the league title in 2015
Arkansas State is the tournament's top seed, followed by No. 2 Stephen F. Austin, No. 3 Vanderbilt, No. 4 Sam Houston and No. 5 Valparaiso.
Each of the top five seeds is nationally ranked in the National Ten Pins Coaches Association Top 20. Arkansas State stands third in the current NTCA rankings followed by Stephen F. Austin fifth, Vanderbilt sixth, Sam Houston seventh and Valparaiso 17th.
Tulane, a team that was ranked among the Top 20 in the nation earlier this year, is the league's No. 6 seed. Monmouth and Louisiana Tech are seeded No. 7 and 8, respectively.
The tournament format is set up just like the NCAA Championships which will be held Thursday through Saturday, April 9-11, at the Tropicana Lanes in Saint Louis, Missouri. The action will consist of double-elimination best-of-seven Baker matches.
The Southland Bowling League championship is the final regular season event for the Sam Houston women. The Bearkats bring an 85-40 overall dual match record into the contest. The SHSU women stand 53-35 against teams ranked among the top 20.
Sam Houston holds a 20-10 dual match mark against the seven other squads competing at the Southland Bowling League Championship.
The 2015 Southland Bowling League's championship round will be streamed live for free on the BOWL.com's BowlTV. Viewers can tune in by going to BOWL.com/BowlTV.
Single-day passes for Friday or Saturday are available for $10. Two-day passes are $15. Children under the age of five and students at Southland Bowling League institutions are free with a valid student ID.
The Southland Bowling League was formed earlier this year and by the formalization as a league, the association can qualify for an NCAA automatic bid no later than the 2017 national championship. Until an automatic qualification is provided, Southland Bowling League members will be at-large candidates for the NCAA Championship.
The schedule for the tournament is as follows:
Saturday, March 21
Opening Round – 9:30 a.m.
Match #1 – Arkansas State (#1) vs.. Louisiana Tech (#8)
Match #2 – Sam Houston (#4) vs. Valparaiso (#5)
Match #3 – Vanderbilt (#3) vs. Tulane (#6)
Match #4 – Stephen F. Austin (#2) vs. Monmouth (#7)
Second Round – (Loser's Bracket) – 11:15 a.m.
Match #5 – Match #1 loser vs. Match #2 loser
Match #6 – Match #3 loser vs. Match #4 loster
Second Round – (Winner's Bracket) – 11:15 a.m.
Match #7 – Match #1 winner vs. Match #2 winner
Match #8 – Match #3 winner vs. Match #4 winner
Third Round – (Play-in Bracket) – 2:30 p.m.
Match #9 – Match #5 winner vs. Match #8 loser
Match #10 – Match #6 winner vs. Match #7 loser
Third Round – (Winner's Bracket) – 2:30 p.m.
Match #11 – Match #7 winner vs. Match #8 winner
Fourth Round – (Play-in Bracket) – 4:15 p.m.
Match #12 – Match #9 winner vs. Match #10 winner
Sunday, March 21
Fifth Round – (Play-in Bracket) – 9:35 a.m.
Match #13 – Match #11 loser vs. Match #12 winner
Championship Match – 12 noon
Match #11 winner vs. Match #13 winner
As Necessary Match – 1:45 p.m.
12 noon loser vs. winner (if first loss for loser)
