UMES captures Hawk Classic Championship
MILLSBORO, Del. — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) claimed their third ever Hawk Classic Championship today, defeating Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) 4-0 in the championship match of the 2013 version of the event.
The Hawks opened the day seeded first and drawing second seed Fairleigh Dickinson University right off the bat. UMES quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead with wins of 199-173 and 159-137. FDU got their ship settled and sailed to two wins of their own, tying the match at two apiece, 183-156 and 169-163. The Hawks quickly rebounded in game five getting a 20-pin win 197-177. Game six was all UMES, 225-176. While the format gave UMES a 4-2 win, the pinfall was also substantial as the Hawks out bowled the Knights by 84 pins, 1099-1015.
Seven Hawks had a hand in the win as Megan Buja (Rockford, Ill.), Valerie Riggin (Vista, Calif.), Justyne Falbo (Rockford, Ill.), Sara Pelayo (Distrito Federal, Mexico) and Mariana Alvarado (Leon, Mexico) started the match. Victoria Jones (Baltimore, Md.) and Tatiana Munoz (Ibague Tolima, Colombia) both subbed into the match to help secure the win.
With the win, UMES secured a place in the championship match and would wait another round to see who they would face. In the meantime the 16 team bracket left the loser of the 15 vs. 16 match without a team to play. Unfortunately for New Jersey City, they were defeated in that match and had to play the hot rolling Hawks.
Buja, Falbo, Munoz, Riggin and Alvarado made quick work of the Gothic Knights 4-0 (197-132, 177-100, 220-125, 174-112). UMES won the pins as well, 768-469.
While UMES was busy topping FDU in round one, Kutztown upset Central Missouri. Kutztown drew the defeated FDU Knights in round two but they were looking for revenge against the Hawks and held on to defeat the golden bears 4-3, setting up the rematch between two of the top teams in the Northeast Region.
The Hawks however were not even entertaining the thought of FDU’s revenge. UMES dominated game one 204-181 and then took game two 259-179, jumping out on the Knights after they opened with a pair of open frames. The Hawks tossed five strikes in a row to stretch the lead to a healthy 80 pins.
Game three saw the Hawks start a little slow while FDU closed frames. The Hawks caught up however due to four strikes in a row and then went back and forth with the Knights, coming out ahead 233-225 and taking a huge 3-0 lead in the match.
Game four was a slug fest. FDU was trying to stay alive and UMES was bowling for a title. Usually that tide goes to the team wanting it more and the Hawks did. Frame after frame the two region heavyweights threw strikes and spares but in the end it was UMES up 222-216, clinching it in the 10th frame on a pair of Alvarado strikes. The lineup of Buja, Falbo, Munoz, Riggin and Alvarado and with Pelayo subbing in proved to be working well.
Megan Buja finished second overall in the team games and was named to the All-Tournament Team in her last Hawk Classic. Alvarado earned the tournament high game award with her 279 from Saturday. More importantly, the team took the trophy home to Princess Anne.
UMES takes about three weeks off before competing on the lanes again, this time in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division Meet, hosted by Hampton University. That will be the Hawks final meet of 2013 before opening 2014 in Reading, Pa. at the Kutztown Invite, January 24-26, 2014.
FAMU posts seven wins in Hornet Invitational
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Florida A&M Bowling team keeps improving as the Lady Rattlers picked up seven wins in the Hornet Invitational, this past weekend hosted by Alabama State.
In head-to-head competition, FAMU posted three wins with the Lady Rattlers defeating Grambling State 963-663 in their opening match. The Lady Rattlers would then go on win matches three and four as FAMU edge Jackson State, 857-853 and defeated Southern University 910-793. Alabama A&M would hand the Lady Rattlers their only defeat on the day with an 881-804 win over FAMU.
FAMU garnered a 4-4 record in baker play as the Lady Rattlers went 3-2 in the first day of baker play.
The Lady Rattlers went 3-2 in the four-game baker play as FAMU defeated Tulane, 751-685 in their first match. Sam Houston State would hand FAMU a 767-684 defeat in the second match. Then the Lady Rattlers would win their next two matches as they defeated Alabama State 790-77 and then Louisiana Tech, 675-625. In their final match of the day, UAB would edge the Lady Rattlers 687-684.
In the final day of competition, FAMU would go 1-2 in the seven-game baker format as the Lady Rattlers dropped their two matches to Alabama A&M (4-1) and then to Louisiana Tech (4-2).
FAMU would pull out a 4-3 win over Tulane in their final match of the invitational. The Lady Rattlers would win the first game 200-191 to take a 1-0 lead. TU would tie the match at 1-1 as the Green Wave edged the Lady Rattlers 157-154.
TU would go up 2-1 over FAMU as they won the third game 166-137. Then FAMU tie the match 2-2 with a 181-155 win in game four. The Green Wave to a 3-2 advantage as they won the fifth game 178-152. FAMU would force a seventh and deciding game as they defeated TU 198-174 in the sixth game. The Lady Rattlers would win the match as they pulled out a 168-150 win in game seven.
The Lady Rattlers was once again led by Carrie Hopkinson as she recorded a 1,038 total pinfall to finished second overall, earning all-tournament honors. Hopkinson bowled a season high 244 in the Lady Rattlers win over Grambling State.
Katherine Jones recorded a 900-plus total pinfall for the second this season as she finished the invitational with a 915 total pinfall in five games. Jones recorded a match high 194 in the Lady Rattlers win over Jackson State.
Breanna Bisbee recorded a season high 878 total pinfall as she bowled a season high 202 in the Lady Rattlers win over Grambling State, followed by a 181 performance in the Lady Rattlers bye match.
Victoria Jones finished the contest with 870 performance as she bowled a season high 227 in the bye match.
Carrie Jefferis rounded out the cast of Lady Rattler performers as she recorded an 842 total pinfall as she hit the 200-plus mark with a 206 performance in FAMU’s win over Southern.
NSU Struggles at UMES Hawk Classic
MILLSBORO, Del. – The No. 15 Norfolk State bowling team had a decent pinfall but not the record to show for it at the UMES Hawk Classic this weekend at the Millsboro Lanes.
The Spartans were seventh out of 17 teams in total pinfall after the first two days of action on Friday and Saturday. NSU dropped all three matches in the bracket round on Sunday to fall to 2-11 overall on the weekend.
NSU went 1-4 on each of the first two days, recording wins over No. 18 Saint Francis Brooklyn on Friday and No. 11 Adelphi on Saturday. Of NSU’s 11 losses on the weekend, 10 came against opponents ranked in the NTCA top 20 poll.
Senior Thea Aspiras averaged 200.4 in five games in team play on Saturday, while juniors Delilah Bethel and Kelsea Yarbrough bowled in all five games and averaged 182.0 and 177.8, respectively.
The Spartans fell to Monmouth in their first match on Saturday, 841-778, before securing a 991-895 victory over Adelphi. No. 13 Sacred Heart (904-879), No. 7 Fairleigh Dickinson (922-891) and No. 2 Vanderbilt (1086-965) all pulled off wins over the Spartans in the latter part of the day.
Juniors Ashley Buck and Courtney Brown competed in four games as well, while junior Emily Weber averaged 187.0 in two games.
On Friday in Baker play, NSU opened with its 748-653 win over Saint Francis Brooklyn before dropping four straight. The Spartans came up short against No. 16 LIU Brooklyn, 759-741, and No. 3 Central Missouri, 797-754. Norfolk State also fell to No. 10 St. Francis (Pa.), 763-742, and No. 12 Kutztown, 838-825.
On Sunday in the bracket round, NSU was seeded seventh based on total pinfall, but the Spartans lost all three Baker matches to fall to 10th place. St. Francis (Pa.) and Sacred Heart handed Norfolk State back-to-back 4-1 losses, and then LIU Brooklyn downed the Spartans 4-2 in the last match of the weekend.