Kats finish first day at NCAA Bowling 2-3
4/9/2015 11:03:00 AM | Women's Bowling
RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The first day of the NCAA Bowling championship, the Kats were looking for a bright spot to finish out the day. They found it in Janine Kuwahara. The sophomore put together a career round, rolling a 279 in a win over Arkansas State.
Kuwahara was solid all day for the Bearkats, four times eclipsing the 200 mark, finishing the day with an average of 215.8
“It was pretty awesome,” Kuwahara said. “I was really hoping to break my personal record of 279. It was important because we need that momentum to continue tomorrow and the day after that.”
On the day the Kats won twice in the five matches, also picking up a win over Wisconsin-Whitewater.
“Overall it wasn't a bad day,” said head coach Brad Hagen. “The biggest thing for us was to just get comfortable. We have a lot of new blood on the team. For three out of the seven, this is their first trip here so we just wanted them to get as comfortable as possible and I think we did.”
The Bearkats opened the day falling in a close match with Central Missouri, 961-936. Kuwahara led the way with a 226, the third-best game of the day for the Kats. They then bounced with a 1024-986 win over Wisconsin-Whitewater. Three Kats topped 200 with newcomer Carrie Hopkinson posting a 239, Anna Groce a 225 and Kuwahara a 215.
After losses to Nebraska, who the Kats defeated in last years National Championship finals, and Vanderbilt, SHSU closed with the big win over Arkansas State.
“From a momentum standpoint, finishing how we did was nice,” Hagen said. “We saw some things there we might be able to use and it will help going into tomorrow morning.”
The Kats have two more matches in the preliminary qualifying round, facing SFA at 10:50 Friday morning and then following that up with FDU.
After all of the preliminary matches are finished, double elimination bracket will be set and will get started Friday afternoon.
Day 1 recaps:
Game 1
No. 5 Central Missouri 961, SHSU 936
The Kats fell in the opening match of the NCAA Championships to No. 5 Central Missouri 961-936. The Kats opened strong with four strikes in the opening frame, led by Stephanie Zavala who had strikes in her opening three frames.
Janine Kuwahara led the way with a 226, rolling three strikes from the third to the fifth frame and then closing with a pair of strikes in the 10th frame. Anna Groce followed with a 183.
Game 2
SHSU 1024, No. 8 Wisconsin- Whitewater 986
The Kats bounced back with a win over Wisconsin-Whitewater 1024-986. The Bearkats closed strong with six straight strikes as a team over frames eight and nine. Carrie Hopkinson led the way with a 239 including a run of four straight strikes from frames five to nine.
Anna Groce finished it off for the Kats with three strikes in the 10th and four straight to finish with a 225. Janine Kuwahara was strong again for the second straight game, finishing with a 215. She rolled three straight strikes twice in the match.
Game 3
No. 1 Nebraska 988, SHSU 905
The Kats fell to top seed Nebraska 988-905 in the third game of the day. Stephanie Zavala got off to a great start rolling strikes in her first four frames and finished with a team-high score of 219.
Strikes were hard to come by for the rest of the Kats as no one else topped 200. Anna Groce finished strong with three straight strikes in the 9th and 10th to roll a 188.
Game 4
No. 4 Vanderbilt 1058-946
For the fourth straight game, the Kats were led in scoring by a different bowler, with Anna Groce posting a 223 in a 1058-946 loss to Vanderbilt.
Groce started a finished strong rolling three straight strikes from the 3rd to 5th frames as well as the 7th to 9th. Erin Brown and Janine Kuwahara were both strong as well, with Brown finishing with a 207 and Kuwahara a 201. It was the second time the Kats had three bowlers post scores of 200 or better, but it wasn't enough as the Commodores had a pair of bowlers go over 240.
Game 5
SHSU 1055, No. 3 Arkansas State 976
The Kats closed out the first day strong with a 1055-976 win over No. 3 Arkansas State. Janine Kuwahara put together a career game, rolling a 279, the high score of the day for the Bearkats. Erin Brown also topped the 200 mark for the Bearkats, rolling a 204.
The Bearkats finished the first day at 2-3. Friday morning they will face FDU and SFA to close out the first round of qualifying. The double elimination bracket play will start Friday afternoon.
Thursday's schedule
| Round 1 | 12:50 p.m. CST | ||
| Game No. | Opponent | Lane Assignment | Live Stream |
| Game 1 | No. 5 Central Missouri | Lanes 13-14 | Lane 3 |
| Game 2 | No. 8 Wisconsin-Whitewater | Lanes 9-10 | Lane 2 |
| Game 3 | No. 1 Nebraska | Lanes 7-8 | Lane 1 |
| Game 4 | No. 4 Vanderbilt | Lanes 19-20 | Lane 4 |
| Game 5 | No. 3 Arkansas State | Lanes 5-6 | Lane 1 |
| Round 2 | Friday, 10:50 a.m. CST |
