Feb. 12, 2011
DOVER, Del. — Vanderbilt put together a strong day of team game bowling and is the No. 2 seed heading into tomorrow’s championship bracket at Delaware State’s Capital Classic.
The Commodores went 4-1 on the day and had all five of its bowlers finish among the tournament’s top 20 with anchor Samantha Hesley finishing second to Maryland-Eastern Shore’s Kristina Frahm, who knocked down 1,122 pins over five games.
“Last night we challenged to team to maintain the same level of focus and consistency in every game and we came pretty close to doing that,” Coach John Williamson said. “We may have broken down a little near the end of the long day but even then I liked the way we competed.”
Vanderbilt’s best team game was a 1,080 effort against Hampton in which all five `Dores topped 200. Its best win was probably against Maryland-Eastern Shore when it was a plus-58 to edge the Hawks by 29 pins. It’s lone loss came against FDU in the fourth game of the day.
Besides Hesley’s performance, Kayla Rhoades also shined and finished sixth individually with Brittni Hamilton tenth, Jessica Earnest 11th and Sarah O’Brien 18th and concluding with three straight 200+ scores in her team game debut.
Hesley, who ended her five games at +95, deflected any personal credit, preferring to focus on what the team accomplished.
“It was fun out there again,” she said. “I thought Sarah bowled very well and she is good to follow for both Jess and myself because she is always upbeat, always very positive. She made a lot of good shots.”
Williamson also liked what he saw from Rhoades and O’Brien, noting the newcomer might have grown a little tired late but showed mental toughness to finish with her best game of the day. Rhoades was a model of consistency with the coach noting for the second straight week that she “stayed within herself” and repeated good shots.
Pin counts are erased as per usual for the best four-of-seven Bakers to determine the places. Vanderbilt will pair off once again with UMES and FDU faces rival New Jersey City on the other side of the bracket. Fifteen teams are in the field.
Championship Bracket
1. UMES 9,133
2. Vanderbilt 9,017
3. FDU 8,785
4. New Jersey City 8,673
Vanderbilt’s Saturday Results
VU 1,015 Morgan State 937
Brittni Hamilton 223
Kayla Rhoades 204
Sarah O’Brien 180
Jessica Earnest 165
Samantha Hesley 243
VU 1,058 UMES 1,029
Hamilton 213
Rhoades 228
O’Brien 179
Earnest 234
Hesley 204
VU 1,080 Hampton 753
Hamilton 248
Rhoades 204
O’Brien 202
Earnest 224
Hesley 202
FDU 1,027 VU 995
Hamilton 170
Rhoades 203
O’Brien 203
Earnest 199
Hesley 220
VU 978 Adelphi 844
Hamilton 157
Rhoades 194
O’Brien 213
Earnest 188
Hesley 226
