ARLINGTON, Texas - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) went 2-1 on the final day of the 2014 Prairie View A&M Invitational.  They lost a heartbreaker to the University of Central Missouri 4-3, the seventh game by just two pins, to send them to the bottom of the bracket where they would finish in seventh place for the event.

 

UMES opened up with a win against conference rival Norfolk State 4-3.  While they were able to secure the win, the Hawks allowed the Spartans to bowl with them.  In fact, in all seven games, the Hawks hit 200 just once, scores very that were very uncharacteristic. UMES won game one 181-178 but struggled in game two, 189-145.  The team rebounded in game three to shoot the 200 and win 211-191.  Norfolk State took advantage of the struggles in games four and five, winning 175-170 and 160-150.  UMES hung on to win 175-171 in game six and then roll a solid 192-157 in the seventh for the win.

 

In the 211 third game Megan Buja spared in the first frame and the fifth. Sara Pelayo was also clean with a strike and spare.  Victoria Jones tossed strikes in both her third and eighth frames and Tatiana Munoz struck in the fourth and ninth.  Marianna Alvarado opened in the fifth but spared and struck in the tenth.  UMES only had one open in the game, but in the match Buja was the only bowler of the seven who saw action not to open.

 

After facing NSU, the only team the Hawks didn't see the first two days, bracket play began and the Hawks took on the nation's third-ranked team, the University of Central Missouri. They topped UCM yesterday, but today the fifth seeded Hawks and eighth-seeded Jennies squared off with a different outcome.

 

The two heavyweights slugged it out, each bowling well.  UMES took game one 201-168, but UCM rattled off wins in games two, three and four (227-183, 223-192, 223-209).  The Hawks came back in game five with a solid 217-188 win and in game six both teams struggled with UMES getting a win 176-174.

 

Coming down to game seven the two teams went back and forth.  For UMES, Buja opened with a spare and Jones followed with the same and so did Pelayo and Munoz.  Alvarado finally broke through with a strike and Buja followed that with another spare.  Jones struck, Pelayo spared and Munoz followed with a spare.

 

All the while, Central Missouri matched the Hawks, staying clean.  It would come down to the anchors.  Alvarado needed a strike to win, but got a spare and seven, giving UCM the two-pin 200-198 win and the match 4-3.

 

That loss sent UMES down to the bottom of the bracket which meant that the Jennies could bowl for fifth, while the Hawks could do no better than seventh.

 

They would get that spot with a 4.5-0.5 win over Valparaiso, avenging yesterday's one-pin loss.  The Hawks rolled in the first match 183-149 before the Crusaders tied them in game two at 177.  After that is was all Hawks.  UMES took game three 259-173, 224-206 and 204-186.  UMES was quickly the first to four and out shot Valpo by 156 pins.

 

Nebraska, whom UMES topped on Saturday, would go on to win the tournament.  Vanderbilt, who UMES defeated on Friday was second.  No. 1 Arkansas State finished third while Sam Houston State was fourth.  Stephen F. Austin, another one of the Hawks eight wins on the weekend, took fifth, while Central Missouri was sixth.  Valpo was eighth behind UMES, while Prairie View A&M and Jackson State were ninth and tenth.  Norfolk State and Texas Southern rounded out the field.

 

UMES takes a weekend off before heading back to the lone star state for their first Kat Klash in Houston February 14-16.

Spartans Wrap-Up Play at Prairie View A&M Invitational

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Norfolk State bowling team finished out the Prairie View A&M Invitational with a 10^th-place finish at the Bowling International Training and Research Center over the weekend.

A week after a solid showing at Kutztown, the Spartans struggled against another loaded field, finishing just 2-11 overall. Of NSU’s 11 setbacks, seven came against teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation.

Norfolk State (47-39) did pick up a victory against No. 14 Valparaiso on Saturday in team play, 1,000-957. The team’s only other win came on Sunday in the bracket portion of play, a 4-1 victory over Texas Southern.

Senior Thea Aspiras led the way on Saturday by averaging 200.4 in all five games. Junior Courtney Brown rolled a 236 in the win over Valparaiso and ended the day with a 181.4 average in five games.

Freshman Nicole Rivera Santiago (173.0) and junior Kelsea Yarbrough also competed in five games, while junior Courtney Williford competed in three and averaged 178.7. Juniors Ashley Buck and Emily Weber each bowled a game as well.

On Friday in Baker play, the Spartans came up short against Texas Southern, 704-683, and No. 1 Arkansas State, 794-745. In the next three matches, NSU again fell on the wrong side of the score, 789-738 to No. 5 Stephen F. Austin, 713-710 to Jackson State, and 823-685 to No. 8 Vanderbilt.

The Spartans dropped the next four on Saturday, 904-842 to No. 10 Sam Houston State, 803-798 to Prairie View A&M, 971-932 to No. 3 Central Missouri, and 990-836 to No. 6 Nebraska. NSU ended the day with the upset of Valparaiso.

On Sunday in the bracket round, NSU could not hold on to a 3-2 lead as the Spartans succumbed to No. 2 UMES to start the day, 4-3. After a 4-0 loss to host Prairie View, Norfolk State closed out the tournament with the win over Texas Southern.

NSU will compete in the MEAC Southern Divisional on March 1-2.