Bowlers split two matches at SBL Championships
3/24/2017 9:28:00 PM | Women's Bowling
After a splitting a pair of matches on the opening day of the Southland Bowling League Championships, the No. 2–seed Sam Houston Bearkats will have to battle their way of the losers bracket on day 2.
The nationally fourth-ranked Kats opened with a 2-0 win against the No. 7 seed Valparaiso, before falling in three to No. 3 seed Vanderbilt in the second round. They will now face Stephen F. Austin in an elimination match Saturday morning.
“Our goal today was to come in here and win the first two matches, and that didn't happen for us,” said head coach Brad Hagen. “We now have put our back against the wall and will have to come out and take a different approach against a good SFA squad.”
The match against the defending national champion Ladyjacks will get started at 8 a.m. It will take three wins on Saturday to get to Sunday's championship match.
In the opening match against Valpo, the Bearkats turned out a well-rounded performance in the traditional game to take a 932-840 victory.
Valparaiso kept things close in the baker total pinfall series but could not overcome two 200-plus games from the Bearkats, despite a 199 and 208 of their own. The Bearkats took the narrow baker series victory by a score of 919 to 914.
Sam Houston State was set on keeping their momentum, holding a solid 635-577 lead over Vanderbilt entering the last three frames of the traditional game. The Commodores closed the gap entering the final frame and edged ahead 867-865 entering the final bowlers. Freshman anchor Maria Bulanova left her 10th frame open for Vanderbilt and Sam Houston State closed out confidently to take a narrow 892-883 win.
Vanderbilt had to fight again in the baker total pinfall series with the Bearkats, but closing the series with a 258 ensured a 983-929 victory to force a best-of-seven series.
The Commodores stepped up in the final baker series to take a 4-1 victory, leading off with a 212, 174 and 190 to jump out to a 3-0 lead. The Bearkats struck back with a 201 but Vanderbilt would close out with a 187 to punch their ticket to tomorrow's advancers semifinal round against No. 1 Arkansas State.
“We made some uncharacteristic mistakes today against Vanderbilt,” Hagen said. “We did a little too much over thinking, and just have to trust our shots and do what put us in this position. We need to come out confident and carry that from the first shot to the last.”
