Commodores finish sixth at Mid-Winter tourney

Jan. 18, 2015

JONESBORO, ARK—Vanderbilt finished sixth as the Mid-Winter Classic came to a finish Sunday afternoon. The Commodores lost two matches to Stephen F. Austin and defeated Alabama-Birmingham to end the long weekend with a subpar 4-7 mark.

Maryland-Eastern Shore bested host Arkansas State in the championship game. Top-ranked Nebraska, which had won the 10 team games by about 400 pins, needed seven games to top Central Missouri for third place.

Vanderbilt had hoped the change to Baker games would be a positive but that didn’t prove to be the case. The Black and Gold hovered around the 190 pin count most of the time, a dangerous spot as good teams can click with a quick run of strikes and get to 200 and beyond. And that was what SFA was able to do in both games.

Robyn Renslow’s seventh place individual finish (205 average) was Vandy’s best. Giselle Poss ended in 21st. Julia Bond of Nebraska won by averaging 223 over 10 games.

The Commodores schedule continues next week in Reading, Pa., at the Kutztown Invitational.

Vanderbilt’s Sunday Scores
SFA 4 VU 1 (No.5-6 seeds)
Lineup: Fry, Reguero, Ferris/Mosesso (5th), Poss, Renslow
VU 201-183
SFA 185-154
SFA 177-172
SFA 202-170
SFA 219-170
After getting off to a positive start, Vanderbilt sputtered with four opens in losing Game 2 and then dropped a tough one in Game 3 when SFA’s anchor doubled after Renslow went strike-9. Momentum seemed to shift and unwelcome splits showed up too often. SFA was able to relax with the lack of pressure being applied.

VU 4 UAB 2
Lineup: Stark, Reguero, Poss, Mosesso, Renslow
UAB 233-191
VU 190-184
VU 193-190
UAB 218-189
VU 224-190
VU 213-182
Vanderbilt took advantage of two huge breaks that handed them win in Games 2 and 3 and went on to defeat the Blazers. The Commodores gained momentum after the UAB anchor left costly opens in the 10th frame of games that appeared to be destined for UAB wins.

SFA 4 VU 2
Lineup: Stark, Reguero, Poss, Mosesso, Renslow
VU 195-174
SFA 235-225
SFA 224-171
VU 215-158
SFA 253-178
SFA 207-172
The quick rematch didn’t prove helpful to Vandy. The ‘Dores won Game 1 staying clean and battled hard in Game 2, matching five strikes in a row with the Lady Jacks. The SFA anchor struck out for a high-end victory. Vanderbilt won the fourth game to knot things up but SFA responded with a 253 and 207, more than enough as Vandy’s struggles continued.