Jan. 20, 2007
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| Tara Kane stands in second place with a 225 average after day one at the Ozark Invitational. Play concludes Sunday. |
SPRINGFIELD, MO – One of the most unusual days in the three year history of Vanderbilt’s bowling program ended Saturday afternoon but not after travel problems, a school record, one lost ball and three loses at the Ozark Invitational.
The Commodores, who entered the day 33-4, began the first of five team games with a school record 1,148 pin effort in crushing tenth-ranked Minnesota State-Mankato by 276 pins.
The promising day continued with another strong effort to top host Central Missouri, the No. 6 ranked team in the nation, 1,040 – 1,018. From then things went downhill.
Twelfth ranked Southern shocked the Commodores, 1,036 – 961 but that was just the beginning of trouble. Unheralded Elmhurst, whom Vanderbilt had easily topped Friday in Baker game play, played giant-killer and won a 1,005-997 game.
The afternoon concluded with a head-to-head match with No. 3 Nebraska and although Vanderbilt regained its edge, it lost a tight 1,093-1,085 game.
Tara Kane enjoyed a big day for the Commodores, averaging 225 and landing in second place behind Minnesota State’s Michelle Unpieda, who averaged 229.6. Michelle Peloquin was in sixth place and Josie Earnest in eighth heading into tomorrow’s deciding day. Peloquin’s 276 against Central Missouri is a career best.
Despite the 2-3 chart, the team title is still a possibility. Sunday’s action consists of two more team games and at that point the entire field will be put into a basic bracket. The team champion will be determined from the results of that bracket.
So much for the action on the lanes. The team had traveled through Missouri’s storm ridden countryside from Warrensburg, site of Friday’s action, to Springfield, hard hit by ice storms last weekend. Upon arriving at its hotel with reservations in hand late in the evening, the squad was told its rooms had been issued to area residents that still did not have electricity. That led to a series of unsuccessful attempts to find rooms and a late bedtime.
If that wasn’t enough, there was the case of the lost ball. College bowlers use a number of specialized balls during a game, depending upon lane conditions. Josie Earnest was completing her warm-ups prior to the first game when her best ball did not come back in the ball return. Searches proved unsuccessful and Earnest performed admirably with a previously little-thrown ball. Equally strange, a bowling center crew member found her lost ball as competition for the day was ending.
“First off, I want to congratulate Southern and Elmhurst for their excellent games against our team,” said Vanderbilt’s John Williamson. “They deserved to win. Our team needs to understand that when you are the highest rated team in a given tournament that everyone is going to give you their best shot. It was disappointing to lose; it wasn’t necessarily that we performed so poorly as a case where we didn’t rise to the challenge. I think all of us learned a lesson today.”
Williamson said the hotel issues played no factor on his team’s performance (“this is life on the road”) and praised Earnest for her toughness and skill after the lost ball forced her to make late changes.
“This area has been hit tremendously hard by the ice storm last week,” he noted. “There are almost no trees standing in town, snapped by the heavy ice or bowed over waiting for a thaw.” The weather forecast called for rain and more ice Saturday night.
Saturday’s Vanderbilt Results
Vanderbilt 1148 #10 Minnesota State 872
Josie Earnest 259
Mandy Keily 224
Karen Grygiel 226
Tara Kane 237
Michelle Peloquin 202
Vanderbilt 1,040 #6 Central Missouri 1,018
Earnest 212
Keily 187
Grygiel 172
Kane 193
Peloquin 276
Vanderbilt 961 #12 Southern 1,036
Earnest 192
Keily 196
Kaitlin Reynolds 176
Kane 225
Peloquin 172
Vanderbilt 997 Elmhurst 1,005
Earnest 206
Reynolds 166
Grygiel 188
Kane 215
Peloquin 222
Vanderbilt 1,085 #3 Nebraska 1,093
Earnest 223
Keily 200
Grygiel 181
Kane 256
Peloquin 225
