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Bowlers Stun National Champions 1/22/2006 JEFFERSON CITY, MO—Vanderbilt’s second-year bowling program scored a stunning victory Sunday afternoon by upsetting two-time defending national champion Nebraska behind a school record effort. The youthful Commodores shocked the Huskers in the day’s opening game of the Ozark Invitational, 1,095 — 1,015, the highest point total in the brief program history. Michelle Peloqiun, one of five freshmen in Vanderbilt’s lineup, led the victors with a 265 — just two pins shy of another team mark. “We finally jelled as a team,” said an excited coach John Williamson. “We literally gave away two victories yesterday and I think the women came into the bowling center today with something to prove. We knew we were capable of so much more. We talked last night about concentration and picking up the easy spares and today we were almost perfect.” The Nebraska victory was not the only encouraging news from the day, although it was the best. The Commodores went 4-1 on a day that included an impressive win over Minnesota State (a 1,050 pin total) and blowout wins in Baker Games against Arkansas State and again over Minnesota State. The lone setback as a hard-fought and narrow loss to the host Central Missouri team and even that game had some positives. Peloquin, who entered the tournament with the second-highest average in college bowling (214), earned all-tournament honors with a 204 average over the tricky lanes while Tara Kane just missed at 202 and Karen Grygiel also made the Top 10 with a strong 197 average. Kaitlin Reynolds checked in with a 190 average to put four of Vanderbilt’s five freshmen in the tourney’s Top 20. “I think we came back with a strong attitude and we were not going giving up,” Grygiel said. “We knew what we had to do and kept a very positive attitude. We emphasized keeping up our intensity despite what the other team might be doing. Reynolds said she “wasn’t surprised” by beating Nebraska, noting that the team pulled together as a unit… She noted the lanes were pretty difficult all weekend but the team adjusted well after yesterday’s learning experience. Nebraska would go on to win the round-robin tournament but the Commodore’s big day pushed them into third place in the strong field. Central Missouri was second. Nebraska’s loss to Vanderbilt was just its second of the season. Vanderbilt, which travels to Las Vegas next week for the Brunswick Open, improves its record to 25-19. Sunday’s Results Vanderbilt 1092 Nebraska 1015 Karen Grygiel 212 Vanderbilt 1050 Minnesota State 860 Grygiel 203 Baker Games (Best 3 of 5) Defeated Minnesota State VU 200 MSU 149 Lost to Central Missouri State CMS 228 VU 204 Defeated Arkansas St VU 197 ASU 166
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