Bethune-Cookman Wildcats Conclude Second Home Tournament
DeLAND, Fla. - No. 18 Bethune-Cookman finished up its second home event of the 2012-13 season on Sunday, taking fourth place in the MEAC southern division meet at the Sunshine Bowling Lanes in DeLand, Fla.
Bethune-Cookman looked to move up the standings in baker format through four matches on Sunday.
However, despite finishing the weekend with the second-highest pin total amongst the five participating teams, the Wildcats were unable to grab team wins in order to make the all-important Sunday leap.
B-CU dropped the opener to North Carolina A&T (767-690), and then fell in a tightly contested match with eventual tournament winner Norfolk State by a count of 659-634.
The Wildcats squared off against Florida A&M in their third contest, falling in yet another close match, 695-687.
All weekend the Cats were within striking distance of their opponent, but the pins were unkind as one - or sometimes two, pins would not go down. Thus, B-CU was forced to pick-up spares with unkind pins still standing.
Bethune-Cookman did bounce back to register a victory in its final match of the day against North Carolina Central, courtesy a 732-646 advantage against the Eagles.
Overall, B-CU finished with a weekend record of 3-5, amassing 3,531 pins on the opening day, giving them a two-day total of 6,274 through Sunday. Norfolk State walked away with a 6-2 record, followed by North Carolina A&T (5-3) and Florida A&M (5-3). North Carolina Central was 2-6 for the tournament.
For the complete story, visit www.bcuathletics.com
Hawks Open Season With 9-1 Mark Against MEAC North
MILLSBORO, Del.-The No. 1 ranked University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Hawks opened their NCAA title defense with a 9-1 mark in the first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division match-up. The Hawks, hosting the other five division teams, tallied to a 5-0 mark in team games and dropped one close contest to Hampton in Baker games.
Short-handed, the Lady Hawks defended their home turf without All-American Anggie Ramirez and fellow Colombians Tatiana Munoz and Valentina Collazos who were in their home country for National competition.
That meant the Hawks would go without some strong bowlers and look to the bench. All six UMES players in uniform would see action and sophomore Valerie Riggin would lead the maroon and grey with a 206 average and 1,030 pinfall over five games. She would post a high of a 220 in the win over Coppin State.
The reigning MEAC Player of the Year and current Pre-season Player of the Year, T'nia Falbo would also dominate, averaging a 200.2 over her five games and a 1,001 one total pinfall. The pleasant surprise came from freshman newcomer Kristie Lopez, who averaged a 194.8 and tallied a 974 in her first collegiate action.
Marianna Alvarado, Megan Buja and Victoria Jones all saw action as well with Alvarado posting a 216 in the Howard win.
On day one the Hawks rolled through the team games, defeating Hampton (910-850), No. 20 Delaware State (968-808), Coppin State (967-895), Howard (994-849) and Morgan State (959-689).
On day two, the Hawks struggled to find their lineup, but placed Lopez at the lead-off, a spot vacated b y the graduation of All-American Paula Vilas. It seemed to work, despite missing a few bowlers. They posted wins over Delaware State (679-612), Howard (759-641), Morgan State (844-582) and Coppin State (705-528) and dropped a game two loss to Hampton (690-722).
For the complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com
Spartans Finish 1st at MEAC Southern Divisional
DELAND, Fla. - The No. 11 Norfolk State bowling team picked up where it left off last year, finishing first overall at the MEAC Southern Divisional hosted by Bethune-Cookman this weekend at the Sunshine Bowling Lanes.
The Spartans completed play with a 6-2 record among the five-team field, topping both North Carolina A&T and Florida A&M, which both ended the weekend at 5-3. It marked the first of three divisionals to be held this year, with the second slated for Dec. 1-2 at the Spartan Lanes in NSU's Student Service Center.
The Spartans went 3-1 on both Saturday and Sunday despite struggling on their end through most of the first day of competition. The Spartans got off to a hot start, downing Bethune-Cookman 1,004-879 in team play before coming up short against Florida A&M, 819-800.
The team rebounded to defeat North Carolina Central, 818-776, and after a bye, the Spartans finished with a 919-819 victory over North Carolina A&T to close out the day.
Junior Thea Aspiras came in third in the individual scoring, tallying a 193.8 average in the four games. Sophomore Delilah Bethel chipped in with a 174.0 average in four games, while senior Jessica Overton posted a 171.5 average in four games.
Sophomores Carrie Hickey and Kelsea Yarbrough averaged 172.0 and 164.3, respectively, in three games, while redshirt senior Sheila-Marie Smith carried a 187.5 average in the other two games.
On Sunday, the Spartans squeaked by with a 742-741 victory over Florida A&M in Baker play and then came away with another win, 659-634 over Bethune-Cookman. The Spartans earned one more victory, 670-637, over North Carolina Central before suffering the only loss of the day, a narrow 663-658 setback to North Carolina A&T. NSU ended the day with a bye.
NSU has won the Southern Division crown in three of the last four seasons.
For the complete story, visit www.nsuspartans.com