Feb. 1, 2015
ARLINGTON, TX—Vanderbilt finished sixth and Katie Stark was third individually as the Prairie View Invitational concluded Sunday afternoon at the International Training and Research Center.
The Commodores had an 8-4 won-loss record over the three days, Sunday beating Valparaiso in team play and North Carolina A&T in Baker competition before losing, 4-2, to Stephen F. Austin in a consolation round.
Stark had entered the day in second place individually and dropped back one spot as the round robin concluded, still ample to earn her first all-tournament team berth. Arkansas State’s Sarah Lokker won individually.
Nebraska(9-3) polished off Fairleigh Dickinson (10-2), 4-3, in the title game while Arkansas State (7-5) defeated Central Missouri (5-7) for third place. Maryland-Eastern Shore was seventh and defending national champion Sam Houston State was ninth in the strong field.
For Vanderbilt, the tournament was often a case of “almost” but it was also a lesson that against elite teams, “almost” is often not good enough for victory. The Commodores made a valiant run to reach the Top Four in the day’s opener against Valparaiso, nearly catching fourth-place Central Missouri that began the last game with a 50 pin advantage. But the `Dores fine 1,070 against Valpo fell 17 pins shy of enough and they finished fifth after the round robin. In that final team game, Amanda Fry had eight strikes to exceed 240 while Rebeca Reguero and Giselle Poss were also well over 220.
“We competed hard but we just made too many mistakes to accomplish the mission,” said Coach John Williamson. “Too many missed makeable spares.”
After three straight weekends on the road, the `Dores will look forward to an off-weekend before heading back to Texas Feb. 13 for Stephen F. Austin’s Invitational.
Vanderbilt’s Bracket Baker Results
VU 4 North Carolina A & T 1
VU 205-155
NC 234-227
VU208-197
VU 212-203
VU 246-200
Stephen F. Austin 4 VU 2
VU 216-186
VU 236-179
SFA 227-212
SFA 227-181
SFA 211-198
SFA 196-188
