April 11, 2013
NCAA Championship Bracket | Qualifying Results
CANTON, Mich. — Vanderbilt ended a marathon day at the NCAA Bowling Championship with the No. 7 seed and will face Fairleigh Dickinson in the opening round of double-elimination match play Friday.
The Commodores won just two of their seven matches but in recent years, Vanderbilt has placed much more emphasis on getting prepared for Friday’s elimination games than pushing for wins on Thursday.
Coach John Williamson used multiple line-ups and played the NCAA maximum 10 players, including seniors Courtney Morgan, the injured Sarah O’Brien for two throws and redshirt junior Lauren Rhein.
Nebraska earned the top seed after tying with Fairleigh Dickinson and Sam Houston State with 5-2 marks on the basis of pin fall. FDU has the second seed, followed by Sam Houston, Wisconsin-Whitewater, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Arkansas State, Vandy and Central Missouri — who entered the tournament as the NCAA’s No. 1 seed and to the surprise of many didn’t win a single match.
The winner of the Vanderbilt-FDU match will play the winner of the Arkansas State – Sam Houston State match while the losing teams drop into the loser’s bracket. Play begins at 10:40 CDT and all games will be streamed live by NCAA.com.
Despite the lack of emphasis on pushing hard to win the games, it was an uneven day of play for the Commodores, who seldom had all cylinders firing at the same time. To survive Friday and be playing Saturday, that will have to change in this elite field.
Vanderbilt capsules
Arkansas State 962 VU 950
The first round of seeding produced scores in the mid-900’s on most lanes. This match was uneven with both teams seeing a higher percentage than normal of splits and difficult leaves. Rachael Giddings struck out for the Wolves to notch a 241, probably the difference in this tight match. Renslow’s 236 led VU.Jessica Earnest 175 Nicole Mosesso 167 Amanda Fry 194 Natalie Goodman 178 Robyn Renslow 236
VU 979 Fairleigh Dickinson 954
The Commodores made two substitutions and they resulted in a par of 200+ games. Kim Carper led the team with a 216 and Tori Ferris went 202 as Vanderbilt led the Knights throughout the game. In addition to the lineup personnel, Fry moved into the leadoff and Goodman went to the four slot.
Fry 189
Ferris 202
Carper 216
Goodman 190
Renslow 182
Nebraska 1,079 VU 985
The Huskers bowled well with Kristi Mickelson leading the way with a 269 and Vandy couldn’t quite catch fire.
Earnest 186
Ferris 188
Carper 189
Goodman 204
Renslow 218
Wisconsin-Whitewater 953 VU 914
Bowling on the far lanes, this game appeared to lack the intensity. Whitewater, which was coming off some nice prior wins, pulled ahead in the late frames. Senior Courtney Morgan played in Carper’s No. 3 spot.
Goodman 177
Mosesso 195
Morgan 164
Earnest 194
Renslow 184
VU 1,055 Central Missouri 1,001
The Commodores had their highest scoring total of the day against the top seeded Jennies. Earnest rode a closing five-bagger to a 236 and got ample help from Mosesso (228, highlighted by a four-bagger) and Goodman (213). It was close most of the way but VU poked ahead for keeps with an all-strike eighth frame and then finished well. Sarah O’Brien, the senior who is essentially out with complications from two hip surgeries, got to finish Renslow’s 10th frame and she responded with a strike.
Goodman 213
Mosesso 228
Fry 182
Earnest 236
Renslow 186
UMES 1,145 VU 931
Vanderbilt ran into a strike throwing machine and it was never close. The Hawks star freshman Kristi Lopez had the front eight in the lead-off hole. She ended with a 266 and two teammates contributed 258 and 240.
Goodman 194
Mosesso 191
Ferris 217
Earnest 156
Renslow 173
Sam Houston State 915 VU 895
This one looked grim at the halfway mark but a strong finish left the Dores feeling upbeat as they left the Super Bowl lanes. Red-shirt junior Lauren Rhein was in the lineup and her closing four strikes gave her a nice 197.
Fry 161
Carper 161
Rhein 197
Earnest 156
Rhein 220
