DALLAS, Texas — Mabel Cummins returned to one of her favorite places and guided Vanderbilt to three victories in four matches and the team lead Friday at the Bulldog Classic.
The Commodores averaged 999.6 over the long day of play.
Cummins scorched the USA Bowl lanes with games of 249-247-224-230-223 for a 234.6 five-game average, one of the best individual days in program history. The Commodore sophomore has won two Dallas Youth Open Championships on these same lanes, the last title coming two months ago over winter break.
Her efforts helped Vandy defeat Grambling, Stephen F. Austin and Tulane with the only blemish being a loss at the hands of Arkansas State. With an uneven field, Vanderbilt’s last pairing of the day was a bye round.
Given that the Commodores were coming off a month-long hiatus from the tournament trail due to COVID-19 quarantine protocols, with a portion of their practice sessions missing a third of the team and without either coach, their overall consistency mostly pleased Vanderbilt head coach John Williamson.
“We had a couple of matches where we did well controlling the pocket and repeating launch angles and a few times where we weren’t as successful,” Williamson said. “The shot was not extremely difficult but it also wasn’t the easiest, either. We were leaving 3-count and 4-count spares too often. When you think you have to be perfect, it is hard to execute trying not to miss.”
Williamson said it has been, “a weird year” to state the obvious, noting that at this time of the season his team is usually farther along but understands why it isn’t.
The veteran Vandy coach was impressed with Cummins, saying that she was in the pocket, “90 or 95 percent of the time and got some carry breaks being there so much.”
Vandy opened the day with a rotation of Amanda Naujokas, Jennifer Loredo, Samantha Gainor, Cummins and Caroline Thesier. After chugging out of the gate with a low-scoring win over Grambling, Vandy inserted Angelica Anthony in the lead-off spot with Angelique Dalesandro sliding into the three-hole, moving Cummins into anchor.
The lineup stayed that way until the bye game where Naujokas reentered and started with the front five, eventually posting a flashy 238. Anthony also caught fire in that game, setting the standard with a 242.
All the Commodores had their moments. Dalesandro had a six-bagger in her first game to notch a 249. Loredo had a pair of 200+ efforts and, while it wasn’t the All-American Gainor’s best day, she did manage a 219 when the heat was on in the Arkansas State match.
Play is scheduled to resume at 9:25 a.m. Saturday with traditional games against Louisiana Tech and Sam Houston State before transitioning to three rounds of 5-game Baker matches.
The event was originally scheduled to end Sunday, but due inclement weather concerns, tournament officials are hoping to complete play Saturday.
Matches will be streamed on Vanderbilt’s YouTube channel.
