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March 2, 2009
BESSEMER, Ala. - While 8-4 may not sound like the best record for a weekend event, and fifth place doesn't sound inspiring, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) will take it, as they played well, picking up some big wins along the way and helping to elevate their status as the current no. 4 team in the nation. The eight wins improve the Lady Hawks to 98-32 on the season while many other of the nation's top teams also struggled to the same extent UMES did at the event. The Sixth Annual Holiday Collegiate Bowling Classic is an unusual event for NCAA bowling. Instead of featuring a mix of traditional team games and Baker games, the event is a total of 12-team games and while wins and losses matter to a selection committee, total pin fall is what counts in their final standings. To that extent, UMES was solid. They tallied 11,305 pins, just 43 behind fourth place no. 7 Arkansas State and 338 behind third place no. 9 Central Missouri. The kicker however is that the Hawks beat both of those teams in the event. They topped ASU to open the event 921-907 and then saw the Jennies of CMU where they won 1099-994. In the next game UMES beat Grand Canyon 973-784 but then ran into no. 15 Wisconsin-Whitewater (UWW) who topped the Hawks 854-883 and then fell to the nation's best team, no. 1 Vanderbilt, 955-1032. UMES closed with a 941-904 win over no. 11 Alabama A&M on day one. Vanderbilt was second in the event, posting an identical record to UMES, 8-4. They tallied 11,713 pins. UWW was seventh in the field with a 7-5 record. On day two the Lady Hawks again started out well, posted three wins a row over Bethune-Cookman (891-857), no. 20 Jackson State (871-841) and Florida A&M (983-790). They then ran into eventual tournament champion Nebraska. The nation's no. 2 team looked like the nation's best on day two. They topped UMES 915-1038 and went on to win the event with 11,993 pins, topping Vanderbilt by 280 pins. The Hawks finished up the day by topping Alabama State 983-843 and then dropping a close one to no. 10 Minnesota State 1017-919.
Maria Rodriguez (Ibague Tolima, Colombia) was the star of the show for UMES. She averaged a 200.33 and finished in sixth place individually, just missing a place on the All-Tournament Team. Only six bowlers in a field of nearly 100 bowlers averaged 200 or better. Rodriguez posted six games, half she bowled, with a 200 or better. Her high game, a 248, was against Grand Canyon. Also on the mark was Paula Vilas (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic). Vilas, the freshmen bowler who joined the team mid-year, had her best outing to date. She averaged a 196.75 and was 13th individually. Her high game was a 244 vs. Central Missouri. She tallied five games of 200 or better in 12 chances. The international connection continues to pay dividends for Head Coach Sharon Brummell as Martha Perez (Bogota, Colombia) was their third highest bowler. Perez averaged a 189.58, finished 22nd overall and had a high game of a 253. She tallied that against Arkansas State to open the tournament. It was also the highest game bowled by a UMES bowler in the tournament. Sara DiScioscia (Hampton, Va.) saw limited action in the event but still averaged 183 in two games. Her average ranked her 34th overall. She tallied a 223 against Vanderbilt and a 143 against Alabama A&M. Jamie Culbreth (Hochspeyer, Germany) and Kristina Frahm (Oswego, Ill.) were both in the top 60 of the field as Culbreth was 46th with a 179 average and Frahm was 59th with a 174.9 tally. Their high games were 238 and 235 respectively. UMES, Vanderbilt and Alabama A&M all had an 8-4 record while Sacred Heart was 9-3. ASU, CMU and Nebraska walked away with 10-2 marks, making the field a very competitive one at the top. UMES has just three events to go and they are all championships. They travel to the ECAC Championships in East Brunswick, N.J. next weekend, March 6-8, head to the MEAC Championships in Greensboro, N.C. March 20-22 and hope for an NCAA Tournament bid so they can defend their National Championship in Detroit, April 8-11. |
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