LINCOLN, Neb. - After earning the top overall seed yesterday, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) put themselves into the drivers’ seat and quickly grabbed two big wins last night in the first two rounds of match play.  Today they got an even bigger one.  They topped No. 1 ranked Wichita State, the fifth seed in the event, 4-1 and with it earned a bye into the semi-finals.

UMES earned some time off with a bye into the semi-finals, which won’t be contested until 3:15 p.m. CT later today.  Their opponent has not been determined as they have to come from the contender’s portion of the bracket, which are the teams who already have one loss.  That means UMES will have two chances of making the finals, having to beat that team once to get in.

The Hawks dropped game one 232-193, but quickly rebounded to take the next four (230-197, 225-203, 256-235 and 225-219).  It was the same championship lineup from last weekend (Kristie Lopez, Megan Buja, Mariana Alvarado, Anggie Ramirez, and T’nia Falbo) and for as well as they bowled in Michigan, they are bowling even better in Nebraska, the same state they captured their first National Championship in back in 2008.

All four wins were over 200 pins with a high of 256, one pin shy of yesterday’s high.    

In other action Kutztown eliminated Sacred Heart while Wisconsin-Whitewater knocked out Norfolk State.  Wichita State is awaiting the winner of those two.

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