NCAA Elite Eight Selection Wednesday
3/29/2016 11:15:00 AM | Women's Bowling
The Sam Houston women's bowling team will learn if they are returning to the NCAA Championships again in 2016 when the Elite Eight selection show airs Wednesday (March 30) at 3 p.m. on a webcast on NCAA.com
Eight teams will earn berths in the NCAA Championships April 14-16 in North Brunswick, New Jersey. Currently, the Bearkats are ranked No. 4 in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) rankings.
A berth in the 2016 tournament would mark Sam Houston's fifth trip to the Elite Eight in the program's six-year history. The Kat have earned NCAA berths for three consecutive seasons. Sam Houston won the 2014 national championship (the university's first NCAA Division I national title) and reached the semifinals in 2015.
“This year has been one of our most competitive and consistent seasons to date,” Sam Houston head coach Brad Hagen said. “You never know you're going until you hear your name called on the selection show, but we're enthusiastic about our chances.”
Sam Houston stands as one of only three programs in the country with more than 90 dual match victories in 2015-16. The Bearkats own a record of 93 victories and only 43 losses. Sixty-eight of those wins have come over squads ranked among the top 25 in the nation. The Sam women own 34 victories over top 10 opponents.
The Bearkats have won two tournament championships and finished as runner-up in four events including last weekend's Southland Bowling Conference tournament in Kenner, La. Sam Houston has finished among the top seven teams in all but one of their other tournament appearances.
Sam Houston fields an experienced squad with three seniors (Anna Groce, Erin Brown and Carrie Hopkinson), two juniors (Janine Kuwahara and Randi Speiler), two sophomores (Heather Penatzer and Stephanie Zavala) and one freshman (Madysen Keller).
Groce, Brown and Kuwahara were members of the 2014 squad that defeated Nebraska in the championship match for the NCAA title.
