RALEIGH, N.C., March 22, 2024 - The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) teams completed the first day of the 2024 Bowling Championship on Friday at Buffaloe Lanes North in Raleigh, NC, with eight of the league’s nine bowling programs in action.
The morning session saw two of the four Mega Matches end in 2-0 sweeps, with top-seed North Carolina A&T and third-seed Maryland Eastern Shore moving on in the winner’s bracket. Joining the Aggies and Hawks in the winner's brackets were the Hawks of No. 5 Monmouth who defeated the No. 4 Blazers of UAB 2-1, and the No. 7 Spartans of Norfolk State who upset the No. 2 Hornets of Delaware State 2-1.
North Carolina A&T State, the top seed and three-time defending champion, took care of Howard after winning the traditional game 1054-822 and the Baker total pinfall segment 1095-827.
In traditional play, MEAC Player of the Year and First Team All-MEAC honoree Lauren Tomaszewski led the Aggies with a 257, while Howard’s Cameren Sullivan had the high game of the match with a 198.
In Baker, the Aggies took immediate control by winning the first game 258-189, before following that with scores of 199-134, 211-137, 258-188 and 169-179.
No. 7 Norfolk State put together a 2-1 upset over the No. 2 seed Delaware State. The Hornets opened with a946-878 win in the traditional game, with Alyssa Breidegam leading the way with a 220. Megan Wheat had the Spartans’ best individual game with a 191.
In Baker total pinfall, NSU won by a narrow 42 pin margin of 969-927 (201-196, 176-187, 212-181, 206-189, and 174-174).
Maryland Eastern Shore, the No. 3 seed, took care of No. 6 Morgan State after winning 961-914 in the traditional match. The Hawks were led by Brooke Driver with a 243 score.
Carrington Beaman led Morgan State with a 221.
Maryland Eastern Shore then won the Baker total pinfall segment 1019-949 after opening with games of 215-138 and 222-215. Morgan took the third and fourth games 196-175 and 200-180, but UMES closed out the fifth game with a 227-200 score.
Monmouth defeated UAB in the morning session 2-1, starting with a 964-865 win in the traditional game. Jenna Lehrer, a Third Team All-MEAC honoree, had the morning’s high game with a 206, and Victoria Cobos bowled a 190 for the Blazers.
In Baker total pinfall, the Blazers won 942-924 (210-225, 210-210, 177-147, 189-147, and 156-195).
It all came down to the Best-Of match between the Blazers and Hawks with the Hawks claiming four of the seven matches (176-170, 200-164, 205-185, and 245-172) to clinch the team point.
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Delaware State, the No. 2 seed, bounced back in the afternoon session with a 2-1 win over Morgan State, eliminating the Bears. The Bears won the traditional match 908-855, thanks largely to a 244 from Cheyenne Washington. Then, in Baker total pinfall, DSU won 985-918 (187-215, 203-199, 182-173, 227-172, 186-159), before sealing the deal in the Best-of-7 Baker matches taking four of the seven games (182-156, 253-228, 189-176, 202-175).
No. 8 Howard eliminated No. 4 UAB with a 2-1 Mega Match win in the afternoon. The Blazers opened with an 885-713 win in traditional format with rookie Madison Colston, a MEAC All-Conference honoree, leading all bowlers in the game with a 212 score.
In the Baker round, the Bison came back to even the team match score at 1-1 after totaling 891 to 847 over the Blazers. In the Best-of Seven round, Howard won the first three matches, 174-156, 154-152 and 171-159, before the teams tied at 152-152 in the fourth game. UAB won the fifth game, 213-197, before the Bison sealed the deal in the sixth game with a 226-128 win.
In the winner’s bracket, North Carolina A&T State swept Monmouth in the traditional and baker formats winning 2-0. The Aggies scored 1089-896 in the traditional round, with Melanie Katen leading the N.C. A&T with a 245 round. N.C. A&T rolled their way to a 1092-967 win the Baker round (179-203, 257-211, 204-188, 225-193, 227-172).
In all four rounds of bowling on the day, N.C. A&T recorded a team score of more than 1,000 points.
No. 7 Norfolk State opened with a 961-837 traditional win over No. 3 seed Maryland Eastern Shore, where rookie Kiersten Michel bowled a 238, before Maryland Eastern Shore bounced back to take the Baker total pinfall 1011-872 (231-168, 193-180, 149-171, 235-160, 212-193).
UMES then took the Baker best-of-seven format, winning four straight games (225-201. 191-178, 217-192, 212-174).
Saturday’s action begins at 9 a.m. with a pair of elimination matches: Howard against Norfolk State and Delaware State against Monmouth. The winner’s bracket final, North Carolina A&T State versus Maryland Eastern Shore, and one more elimination match get underway at 2 p.m.
For more information on the 2024 MEAC Bowling Championship, visit Championship Central.