Jan. 29, 2016
ARLINGTON, TX—Vanderbilt made big shots when they were needed and cruised to an unbeaten day at the Prairie View A&M Invitational Friday.
The Commodores beat five opponents, including Top 10 wins over Nebraska and Maryland-Eastern Shore, and is in third place in total pin fall entering Saturday’s team game play.
After a slow start against Texas Southern, Vandy was forced to heat up quickly in a high-end game with UMES. The Hawks were sizzling in the fifth and final game of the match but the Commodores got four strikes in the ninth and tenth frames from freshman Kris Quah and senior Robyn Renslow to eke out a 1,079-1,077 victory.
Vandy hit its high-water mark against Monmouth in the third game (1,117 pins) and was so-so in grinding out a victory against host Prairie View in the fourth match, setting up an interesting dual with Nebraska. The Commodores won four of the five Bakers, getting strikes in frames 6-10 to win the fourth game and using bulls-eyes in the seventh-eighth and ninth frames to seal a 17-pin win to end the day.
Vanderbilt primarily used a rotation of Tori Ferris, Amanda Fry, Olivia Wirtz, Quah and Renslow most of the day although Nicole Powell and Katie Stark also saw action.
“We had a slow start,” said Coach John Williamson, “but I liked how we ended, we finished well. We won some close game by making big shots. Robyn Renslow was the Robyn we know after the first game and I thought both Kris and Amanda (Fry) performed well.”
Vanderbilt has a formidable challenge Saturday with North Carolina A&T, Sam Houston State, Arkansas State, Tulane and Stephen F. Austin. Play begins at 9:00 a.m. CST and is streamed on both the Cube and at times by bowl.com.
Nebraska, despite its 1-3 record, tops the pin count with Stephen F. Austin second. Vandy’s chugging start put the `Dores in third, ahead of Arkansas State and UMES in the 11 team field.
