Nov. 3, 2016
A new season begins: Vanderbilt’s 2016-17 season begins Friday at Sam Houston State’s Track Kat Klash. It marks the 13th year of the program’s existence.
The tourney field: Arkansas State, Alabama State, Bethune Cookman, Central Missouri, Delaware State, Grambling, Jackson State, Louisiana Tech, Lincoln Memorial, Nebraska, Prairie View, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Southern, Texas Southern, Tulane, Vanderbilt and Youngstown State.
Tourney format: There are six, 5-game Baker matches Friday beginning at 10:30 am (CT). Saturday’s five team games start at 10:30 and Sunday’s three rounds of Baker brackets begin at 8:20 a.m.
Following the tourney: There should be two viewing options for long-distance fans. Vanderbilt plans to livestream its games on http://thecube.com/cube/vanderbilt-bowling and host Sam Houston State will also have a live stream. Game updates can be found on Vandy Bowling’s Twitter (@VandyBowling) and Facebook pages. The reliability of the streaming technology rests almost entirely on the strength of the center’s Wi-Fi signal.
Travel team to Houston: Maria Bulanova, Adel Wahner, Emily Rigney, Jordan Newham, Kristin Quah, Katie Stark, Nicole Powell, Giselle Poss.
Young ‘Dores: Five of the traveling eight are sophomores or younger with Bulanova, Wahner and Rigney freshmen. Newham and Quah are sophomores.
Busy Bulanova: Freshman Maria Bulanova spent a good part of last week in the Czech Republic at the European Cup Championship. She was the tournament’s defending champion and placed second this time around by a mere two pins.
Returning to Emerald Lanes: The tournament will be held on Houston’s Emerald Lanes, site of the 2006 NCAA Championship. Vanderbilt was making its NCAA debut back then in just its second year of existence and placed fifth.
Last appearance at Kat Klash: Vanderbilt hasn’t participated at this event since the 2013-14 season when it was played during the spring semester.
