Final Bracket | Championship Central


CHESAPEAKE, Va., March 21, 2021—North Carolina A&T State won the 2021 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Bowling Championship in comeback fashion Sunday afternoon at Bowlero Chesapeake, defeating Monmouth 4-2.
 
The top-seeded Aggies, ranked No. 4 in the latest poll from the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA), won their first title since 2018 and their sixth overall. They did so by besting a tournament field in which all four teams were nationally ranked.
 
Aggies freshman Melanie Katen was named the tournament’s Outstanding Performer, while Kim Terrell-Kearney was named Outstanding Coach.
 
Monmouth, the tournament’s No. 3 seed and the No. 19 team in the nation, advanced to the final after outlasting No. 12 Delaware State in the morning’s Mega Match out of the elimination bracket. The Hawks had a quick turnaround into the title match and took the first game of the Baker best-of-seven format 178-174 after Saige Yamada closed with a clutch spare in the 10^th frame.
 
The Hawks carried that momentum into the second game, despite the fact that NCAT opened the game with three consecutive strikes from Katen, Lauren Tomaszewski and Ericka Quesada. But Monmouth had fewer open frames en route to a 185-178 win and a 2-0 match lead.
 
Game three started the Aggies’ comeback.
 
The Aggies parlayed seven spares and two strikes into a 170-166 win in the third game, in part because Monmouth left two of the last four frames open. Monmouth then opened the fourth game with four straight spares, but four more open frames in the last six helped the Aggies win 154-143 to tie the match at 2-2.
 
NCAT appeared to have the rust knocked off come the fifth game, in which the Aggies only had one open frame and won 186-137 to take their first lead in the match.
 
The sixth game was one of the tightest of the match, and MEAC Bowler of the Year Cameron Strombeck went strike-nine in the final frame to clinch the game 165-159 and give the Aggies the title.

ESPN was on-hand to record the match; it will broadcast on ESPNU on Sunday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m.
 
NCAT received the MEAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Bowling National Championship, the Selection Show for which will be Wednesday, March 31 at 4 p.m., streaming live on NCAA.com.
 
The championship will be held April 7-10 in Kansas City, Mo.
 
 
Outstanding Performer: Melanie Katen, North Carolina A&T State
Outstanding Coach: Kim Terrell-Kearney, North Carolina A&T State
 
All-Tournament Team
Kaitlyn Robb, Delaware State
Camelia Coffman, Monmouth
Skylar Smith, Monmouth
Melanie Katen, North Carolina A&T State
Ana Olaya, North Carolina A&T State