Sam Houston back in NCAA Elite Eight
3/30/2016 5:27:00 PM | Women's Bowling
HUNTSVILLE – For the fifth time in its six-year history, the Sam Houston State bowling program is headed to the National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship as the Bearkats heard their name called among the eight programs on Wednesday afternoon.
Sam Houston is joined by Nebraska, Arkansas State, Vanderbilt, Stephen F. Austin, McKendree, Central Missouri and North Carolina A&T. The event will be held April 14-16 at Brunswick Zone Carolier in North Brunswick, New Jersey. Tickets can be purchased on www.NCAA.com prior to the championship.
The championship final will air on ESPNU Saturday, April 16 at 5:30 p.m. A tape delay broadcast of the championship final will air on ESPN Sunday, April 17 at 5:30 p.m.
“I think it's important for the university and for us,” Sam Houston head coach Brad Hagen said. “Good or bad, we've set the standard and the bar extremely high. Every year that's the challenge for us is to maintain those standards. Consistency is so important in our sport.”
Sam Houston's berth in the 2016 tournament marks the squad's fifth trip to the Elite Eight in the program's six-year history. The Kats have now earned NCAA berths in four consecutive seasons including winning the 2014 national championship and reaching the semifinals in 2015.
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 and 34 victories were against top 10 national opponents.
“We're returning back to the postseason with six athletes that were all there last year,” Hagen said. “The fact that we made it to the final four and semis is kind of exciting for this year. We're returning with six ladies who have deep postseason experience and a lot of depth. We're going in pretty good shape as long as we're physically and mentally healthy.”
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).
“We work so hard to get there and I am so excited,” Keller said. “I used to compete in high school events but this huge collegiately. I am expecting hard work, dedication and for us to continue working towards our goals to get better. Having such a good competitive field pushes us.”
Groce, Brown and Kuwahara were members of the 2014 squad that defeated Nebraska in the championship match for the NCAA title.
“Every year it gets a little different,” Groce said. “It's always a different team and this year we did what we needed to do. The feeling is always amazing. You never have the feeling that you're safe until you hear your name. We're looking to go in as confident as possible. We're a very talented team and some of the best bowlers in the country are right here.”
Competition begins with qualifying rounds in which each team bowls one five-person regular team game against each of the other seven participating teams. Teams will be seeded for bracket play based on their win-loss record during the qualifying rounds.
At the conclusion of the qualifying rounds, teams will then compete in best-of-seven Baker matches in the double elimination tournament. In the Baker format, each of the five team members, in order, bowls a complete frame until a complete (10-frame) game is bowled. A Baker match tied at 3½ a piece after seven games will be decided by a tiebreaker using the Modified Baker format.
“Consistency and predictability are big things for us,” Hagen said. “As long as the girls are trusting in themselves, we'll get the consistency we need. In the last two tournaments, we've done a lot better controlling our emotions. It has paid off. If we are healthy, the mentality capacity will be where we need it to be, life will be good and hopefully a second national championship will come.”
