Courtesy of North Carolina A&T State Athletic Communications

 

GREENSBORO, N.C. – North Carolina A&T State women's bowling team was coming off its most successful day.

At the Columbia 300 Music City Classic on March 8, The Aggies defeated the second-ranked team in the nation Sam Houston State. They had a come-from-behind win against the third-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers before downing 13th-ranked Central Missouri.

N.C. A&T head coach Kim Terrell-Kearney and her team planned to use that day to propel them to a few championships. 

That was before a pandemic happened. 

The following weekend, the Aggies were expected to travel back to Symrna, Tenn., for the 2020 Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITC) bowling sectionals sponsored by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) from March 13-15. 

Five years ago, the Aggies won the ITC national championship, a tournament to the bowling world that is just as prestigious as the NCAA title. N.C. A&T had qualified for the event for the fourth time in school history.

A day before the scheduled event, however, USBC officials decided to cancel the tournament to be held in four different regional locations due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) later that day decided to cancel the rest of the winter and the spring sports, ending the 2019-20 bowling season.

The Aggies finished the regular season with a 73-40 overall record and a 17-3 MEAC mark to finish second in the standings. They finished the season with an 18,973 total pinfall. 

N.C. A&T ranked in the top-10 in every National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) poll this season and finished the season with a No. 9 ranking. The Aggies climbed as a high as seventh nationally and were as low as 10th. 

The Aggies only had postseason play left before the season was canceled. Besides the ITC, N.C. A&T was scheduled to travel to Chesapeake, Va., the following week for the MEAC Championship (March 20-22).

After the conference tournament, the Aggies were hoping for an NCAA bid. This season was going to be the first season in which the NCAA Tournament went from six teams to 16.

Junior Cameron Strombeck led the Aggies led the team with 9,577 total pins in 48 matches for an average of 199.52. She recorded her season-best game, a 258, against Norfolk State on Nov. 9 in the first MEAC meet to record the eighth-highest score in the MEAC for the 2019-20 season.

Strombeck also led the team with 26 matches of 200-plus and her best finish this season was second at the first MEAC Meet. For her efforts, Strombeck was named a NTCA Third Team All-American and was named First Team All-MEAC. 

Junior Ana Olaya finished second on the team with 7,552 total pins in 39 matches for an average of 193.64. She recorded 15 matches of 200-plus including a season-high 243 against No. 15 Delaware State on Nov. 9 to post the 15th-highest score in the MEAC.

Olaya best finish this season was seventh at the TRACK Kat Klash. She was a Second Team All-MEAC selection. 

Sophomore Ericka Quesada finished third on the team with 6,844 total pins in 36 matches for an average of 190.11. She recorded 10 matches of 200-plus including a season-high 238 against Florida A&M on Feb. 22. She had her best finish this season at the second MEAC meet with a fourth-place finish.

Quesada earned Second Team All-MEAC honors.

The Aggies had three seniors on the team: Tyra Merritt, Mia Pope and Kayli Christ.