NCAA Bowling Regionals open Friday

ARLINGTON – Friday the Sam Houston Bearkats will begin postseason play in the Arlington Regional of the NCAA Bowling championships.

The Kats enter as the No. 4 overall seed and the top seed in Arlington, one of four Regionals competing to advance to the NCAA Finals in Columbus, Ohio, next week.

They will open play Friday morning against SFA at the International Training and Research Center. Louisiana Tech and North Carolina A&T.

"We've had a great season so far this year, but this is what we compete for, a chance to win a national championship," said head coach Brad Hagen. "

The Bearkats begin their quest for the second national championship in program history, winning their first title in 2014. This marks the 10^th time in 11 tries the Bearkats have advanced to the NCAA postseason, but Friday's match will be a little different. The ITRC was the site for the first ever match in program history against SFA in 2010. It will also be the first postseason event for the Bearkats in their home state.

"This is special for sure," Hagen said. "Not only was it the site of our first ever match, but it also will be the first time we have a chance to bowl in front of a home crowd in the NCAA postseason. We are very familiar with this center and have had some success here as well, which I think helps."

Despite missing out on the postseason in 2020 when the championship was canceled, the Bearkats have a roster with plenty of NCAA Championship experience. Five members of the squad were part of the team that advanced to the Regional Finals last season in Kansas City.

Seniors Hayley Connelly and Syasya Ismail will be competing in their fourth NCAA Championship event. As freshmen in 2018 they were part of a squad that advanced to the national semifinals. Elise Chambers and Bea Hernandez were both freshman on the 2019 squad that qualified for the NCAA postseason and will be competing in the postseason for the third time.

"I think experience is important this time of year," Hagen said. "The year we won the national championship we had a pair of four-year seniors (Kimi Davidson and Neishka Cardona) who had been though the ups and downs that come with postseason play and I think their experience was big."

Every match of the Arlington Regional will be streamed on bowltv.com.

The championship bracket will be a double-elimination format, with each round consisting of a best-of-three match that includes the use of three-team game formats – baker total pin fall, five-person team match and a best-of-seven baker match play. The champion will be determined using a best-of-seven baker match play.

The winner of each region will advance to the NCAA Championships in Columbus, Ohio on Apr. 15-17. The championship final will air at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, Saturday, April 16 on ESPNU.

NCAA Bowling Regionals open Friday

Players Mentioned

Elise Chambers

Hayley Connelly

Bea Hernandez

Syasya Ismail

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