National Champions Returning To Elite Eight
4/7/2015 9:59:00 AM | Women's Bowling
Sam Houston's NCAA Division I national championship women's bowling team had only one goal this year. Their objective was to return to the Elite Eight tournament again in 2015.
The Bearkats accomplished that feat, marking the fourth time in the five-year history of the program Sam Houston has earned a national championships berth.
“It's sweet,” Anna Groce, junior two-year letter winner from Kernesville, North Carolina, said of returning to the NCAA Elite Eight. “Each of the three years we've gotten to go since I came to Sam Houston has been sweet.”
At the tournament April 9-11, the Bearkats reached the NCAA Final Four for the second year in a row, falling in the semifinals to eventual national championship Nebrask
But the strong showing at the national tournament put an exclamation point on another outstanding season for the program. Sam Houston compiled an overall record of 90 victories and 49 losses in dual match play. That includes a 51 victories against the teams in the current National Ten Pins Coaches Association (NTCA) top 20.
"Reaching the final four again was huge, especially for the new girls on the team," SHSU head coach Brad Hagen said. “Every year it doesn't get any easier to get back. The competition is tough. But, we have a good group of girls. This program is going to continue to grow and be competitive on a national level.”
Hagen took a veteran group of six young women to the national tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, last spring. Seeded seventh, the Bearkats won three consecutive matches in double elimination play to earn a spot in the finals against four-time champion Nebraska. The SHSU women defeated the Cornhuskers in the championship final on ESPN to hoist the trophy.
The 2015 squad, however, is a bit different. Two seniors who had been part of each of the first four Sam Houston teams are gone. Three new players joined the four returning veterans for this year.
“It's been a big learning curve for all of us with the team being so young,” Hagen said. “But you can't win the national championship unless you're there and we're going to Saint Louis.”
During the 2014-15 season, Sam Houston compiled an overall record of 87 victories and 42 losses in dual match play.
“It was awesome going back,” Erin Brown, a junior from Davison, Michigan, said. “Getting back to the NCAA tournament has been our driving goal all season. We of the veterans have felt that we all must take a share in the leadership.”
Becca Pittser from Huntersville, North Carolina, is the lone senior on the 2015 Bearkat squad. She believes the experience for the four returnees from the championship squad is a definite advantage for the team.
“For those of us returning, knowing that we're capable of winning the championship takes down the nerves a bit,” Pittser said. “Earning a berth in the NCAA tournament for a third straight year is really something.”
Nebraska, Sam Houston's opponent in the national championship finals last year and the No. 1 ranked team in the country this year, was the number one seed at the Elite Eight and ended up winning the 2015 national title.
“Last year we ran with the fact that the whole team had been to the NCAA tournament before which no other team could say that at that point,” Hagen said. “This year, with four people back from last year's group that were on the ESPN telecast is big from a leadership role. They will help keep the three girls who have never been to the NCAA before calm.”
Joining Brown, Groce and Pittser on the SHSU squad heading to Saint Louis are sophomore letter winner Janine Kuwarhara from Davao City, Mindanao; freshmen Heather Penatzer from Tucson Arizona and Stephanie Zavala from Downy, California and transfer Carrie Hopkinson from Drumbo, Ontario.
Groce agrees that the veterans' experience at the past two NCAA championship with Sam Houston can be a plus.
“The fact four of us were there last year helps a lot,” Groce said. “We're young but we're also kind of old in a sense. It gives us a step ahead of a team like SFA that's never been to the national championship before or any team that's never won. We've made it that far and we know that feeling.”
Whatever the result, the Bearkats know that once again they achieved a goal that only seven other teams in the country have equaled.
"I'm proud to the job our girls have done this year," Hagen said. “We went up to Saint Louis, competed well and had fun.”
