Jan. 29, 2017
ARLINGTON, TX—Vanderbilt’s strong spring play continued but it wasn’t quite enough to capture the championship at the Prairie View Invitational Sunday. The Commodores fell to Nebraska in the title game after winning the No. 1 seed and their semi-final match with McKendree.
The final day began with a big pin count against Jackson State in a team game — the only score of the morning over 1,000 pins — and that jumped the `Dores to the top seed. Freshman Maria Bulanova’s 221 led a trio of Black and Gold bowlers over 200.
The seed set up another match with fourth-seeded McKendree, a frequent opponent in recent weeks. Vanderbilt edged the Bearkats by three pins in the first game of the best of seven Baker sets, then rattled off two straight wins with relative ease to appear on the threshold of a quick victory. Wrong!
As is often the case in this sport, McKendree won Game 4 and then caught fire by winning the next two behind a barrage of strikes. With the match suddenly tied and momentum shifted, Game 7 was the competitive tussle one would expect from two national powers.
McKendree crept to a lead midway through the game but surprisingly, its high-performing anchor missed the single 10 pin to open the final frame, cracking the door for Vandy. The Commodores were on a string of three straight strikes at that point and Bulanova’s spare and strike produced a remarkable 223-215 victory.
That was Vanderbilt’s high-water point as Nebraska, winners of the last five Prairie View championships, seized command quickly and won in four straight games. The Commodores posted two quality scores of 222 and a third of 206 but the Huskers were fashioning games of 220, 236 and 233. The final game was a blue-collar 182-173 score.
This tournament had a small field of a dozen but the top rated teams in the nation’s most recent poll were in attendance.
Vandy’s Giselle Poss finished the tourney in third place individually with Kristin Quah placing 12th and Bulanova 15th.
After three consecutive weekend tournaments, the Commodores will be idle next week before returning to the Lone Star state in two weeks for Stephen F. Austin’s tournament.
