Nov. 6, 2016
HOUSTON, TX—Vanderbilt dug itself into three straight 3-1 deficits against highly regarded foes, escaping with one win and narrowly missing a second before finishing fourth at the Kat Klash Sunday.
The Commodores defeated Arkansas State. 4-3, to start the day of best-of-seven Baker games, lost to Nebraska in the semi-finals by the same score and then ran out of steam in a quick rematch with ASU, bowing 4-1.
Using a lineup for most of the day consisting of one senior (Giselle Poss), two sophomores (Kristin Quah and Jordan Newham) and two freshmen (Maria Bulanova and either Emily Rigney or Adel Wahner), the Commodores started each contest slowly but gained momentum midway through the first two matches.
Poss and Bulanova led the successful rally to down Arkansas State in the first game. Poss swapped spots with the split-stricken Quah and from the four-hole, she and her new teammate pounded the lanes with strikes during the stirring comeback. The seventh game was won by a single pin, 201-200, when Poss struck in the ninth and Bulanova doubled and had 9-count in the tenth.
That set up the semi-final game with Nebraska. The Big Red jumped to a 3-1 edge before another rally evened things at 3-games all behind a rotation of Newham, Wahner, Poss, Quah and Bulanova. A costly missed makeable in the seventh frame of Game 7 opened the gates for the Huskers, who smelled victory and struck out from the sixth frame.
“Ultimately we had many positive takeaways from our first tournament,” Coach John Williamson said. “We have to figure out how to minimize some miscues because several of the games we lost we essentially gave away.
“We had freshmen making some big shots,” Williamson continued. “Maria showed an impressive ability to double when it mattered. Kristin made a nice recovery from a slow start. We will get back to work and strive to get better every day.”
Quah was named the tournament Most Valuable Player after winning the singles play Saturday and Poss and Bulanova were honored on the all-tournament team with their fourth and fifth place finishes.
Host Sam Houston State defeated Nebraska, 4-2, in the championship match to win the title.
The Commodores travel to Kenosha, Wisc., next week for Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Warhawk Invitational.
