ARLINGTON, Texas – The North Carolina A&T State bowling team finished 1-1 after the first day of the NCAA Arlington Bowling Regional at The International Training Center on Friday. Having beaten Louisiana Tech in the first Mega Match of the day, A&T faced off against Stephen F. Austin (SFA) for a berth in the regional final.
The ladies got off to a less than desirable start in the first leg of the Mega Match, traditional play. The Aggies left three frames open through the first 15. SFA left open one frame to earn 1,034-950 win, putting the Lumberjacks ahead 1-0 in the Mega Match.
Carlene Beyer (240), Hana Roers (232) and Chloe Skuzynski (226) bowled better than 200, while junior Lauren Tomaszewski led the Aggies with a 221. It would not get any better, as SFA won the Baker portion of the Mega 969-913. As a result, the Aggies will get yet another showdown with Louisiana Tech in a third-round elimination Mega Match at 9 a.m. Saturday. If they win, they will get Sacred Heart at 3 p.m.
A&T played La. Tech eight times during the regular season, and they opened the Arlington Regional against the Bulldogs. A&T got off to a quick start in this one, with strikes in their first two frames from Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) player of the year Melanie Katen and sophomore Laura Garcia.
The Bulldogs responded quickly, however, rifling off four straight strikes in the fourth frame to take a 449-412 lead. La Tech recorded three consecutive open frames in the eighth, but A&T couldn't take advantage, allowing the Bulldogs to claim a 1,001-990 traditional win.
Tomaszewski, the MEAC tournament MVP, came through in the clutch for the Aggies in Baker play. She led the Aggies to a 1,058-1,030 win to even the Mega Match at 1.
She bowled two strikes in the 10th frame of the second game, keeping the Aggies close at 451-450. She followed that with a triple in the 10th frame of Game 3, giving A&T a 33-pin lead as they crossed the halfway point. Tomaszewski would triple yet again in the 10th frame of the fourth game to extend A&T's lead to 36 pins, 861-825, heading into the fifth and final game.
"I take a lot of pride in it," Tomaszewski said on being A&T's anchor bowler. "I know I can hit the shots, and it's an honor to be in that spot. Not very many people can take the pressure of that spot, and I enjoy the pressure. When it's on the line, and you can do it and come back to your team screaming and jumping up and down, it gives you a little extra gas in the tank."
Tomaszewski not only enjoys the pressure, but she often comes through in those situations, and it was no different on Friday. LA Tech left the seventh frame open in the fifth game, and senior Pamela Warr took advantage, bowling a strike for A&T. Tomaszewski left the 10th frame open in this one, but the Aggies had enough cushion in their lead to afford it.
"I started slow, to begin with," Tomaszewski said. "I switched to a better ball and was able to get it to the right spot. I think we all held each other up in that last half and learned how to fight. When we have fun, we bowl a lot better, and when we love our shots, we bowl better, so I think we chose to love it. We believed in each other. Sometimes the pins didn't fall our way, but we had each other's back, which shows what we're capable of."
In the winner-take-all best-of-seven Baker, A&T left two of the first three frames open in Game 1 while the Bulldogs bowled a pair of strikes. But yet another Tomaszewski triple in the 10th lifted the Aggies to a 216-189 win. It gave the Aggies a 1-0 lead in the series. However, LA Tech took the next two matches to go up 2-1.
A pair of open frames in the fourth game allowed A&T even things at 2-2. The Bulldogs had a chance to take Game 5 but left the 10th frame open, and the Aggies slipped away with a 181-177 win to jump out to a 3-2 lead.
A three-strike stretch propelled A&T to the win, defeating the Bulldogs 4-2 in the series and 2-1 in the Mega.
"We just stayed focused on the task-at-hand, which is to advance," A&T coach Kim Terrell-Kearney said. "I kept telling them that it doesn't always have to happen the way we hoped, and that's why they give us three. I think they (A&T) were prepared for that, and we are good at Baker."