ARLINGTON, Texas - While the wins didn't pile up like they had hoped they would, the Prairie View A&M Invitational turned out pretty well for the Lady Hawks of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES).  After finishing day two with the third seed, the Hawks battled to seven games with Vanderbilt, before avenging their loss one day earlier and then fell in the finals to Nebraska to take runner-up honors at the event.

UMES never did stop fighting, despite putting up good numbers and getting good pin counts, they were bested by opponents who seemed to raise their game when battling the Hawks.

UMES opened the day with a win over Louisiana Tech in Baker play.  The match did not count for bracket play, but was simply on the schedule so that every team played each other at least once in the event.  They went up 2-0 before La. Tech rebounded for the third game win.  They would then split the next three matches with UMES taking game six 218-192 and the win.

They would then move into the bracket and face second-seeded Vanderbilt.  UMES dominated the first game 194-164 but the Commodores would take game two 193-171 and UMES responded with a 177-155 win.  The two heavyweights then settled in and found their spots.  Vandy tied the match at two with a 219-185 win in game four and took a 3-2 lead 257-135.  The Hawks regrouped from the poor outing to take a one-pin win 200-199 and gain some momentum.  Game seven was back and forth.  Tournament MVP Anggie Ramirez (Bogota, Colombia) opened in the ninth and Vandy answered with a strike.  At that point, the game was on the anchor bowlers.  The maximum score if everyone struck out gave UMES a one-pin lead.  Vanderbilt couldn't do it however and got nine.  T'nia Falbo (Greensburg, Pa.) answered with her own nine and that guaranteed a win.  She picked up the spare and gave UMES a 182-180 win and a spot in the championship match.

In that match UMES ran into Nebraska who was 10-2 in the tournament so far.  While one loss was at the hands of UMES a day earlier, the Hawks were determined to hand them another.  It wasn't to be.  The Huskers rolled to wins in game one and two, the latter by 90 pins.  As they had against Vandy, UMES responded with a game three win 190-180.   Nebraska would then get a pair of wins to close out the 4-1 win and hand UMES a second place finish.

For the complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com.