March 26, 2016
KENNER, LA—Vanderbilt started strong but couldn’t maintain the momentum and lost to No. 1 rated Arkansas State in the semi-final match of the Southland Bowling League Championship. The Red Wolves went on to sweep Sam Houston State to win the conference title.
The Commodores won the first game in the best of seven Bakers but late-game open frames proved costly in their bid to repeat as league champs.
“We had the polar opposite reaction to what one might expect,” said Coach John Williamson. “We started loose and relaxed and got tighter as the match wore on. We had talked at length about the importance of winning the first game since as top-seed Arkansas State would have lane choice in a seven-game contest. We win the first game which in effect nullified that edge but didn’t take care of business after that point. Hopefully we can learn from this disappointment and build off it at the nationals.”
Vandy used a rotation of Giselle Poss, Jordan Newham, Tori Ferris, Kristin Quah and Robyn Renslow for the first three and a half games. Left-handed Katie Stark was inserted for Newham midway in Game 4.
Renslow was the only Commodore staying “clean” through the five games with five strikes and five spares. Poss filled nine of 10 frames.
Vanderbilt, 101-37 for the year and ranked third nationally, is expected to be among the eight teams selected for the NCAA Championship in three weeks in Brunswick, N.J. The announcement by the NCAA Committee will come Wednesday afternoon.
