NCAA Championship Notebook

Vandy begins tournament run Wednesday

by Rod Williamson

 

NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Vanderbilt Commodores begin their quest for a national championship at 9 a.m. Wednesday when they face Mount St. Mary’s in the NCAA Tournament.

Here is more information on the 2021 championship event:

15th Straight Trip

Vanderbilt is making its 15th consecutive NCAA Championship appearance. The tournament gets underway Wednesday at the AMF Pro Bowl Lanes in North Kansas City, Missouri.

Key Details

It is a double-elimination tournament using the Mega Match format (traditional team game, 5-Game Baker set and, if the teams split those, a best of seven Baker series). Sessions begin at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. although the championship match Saturday will be at 5:30 p.m., televised live on ESPNU.

Watch the livestream

All rounds will be live-streamed by the NCAA. Updates to the event can be found on the NCAA’s official tournament site HERE.

Sweet 16

Since the NCAA began sponsoring bowling in 2004 the championship field has consisted of eight teams. This is the first time the field has been 16 teams which includes six conference champions that received automatic bids and 10 at-large teams.

Regional play

To accommodate the larger field, the NCAA broke the 16 into four regions, each with a No. 1 seed – as determined by the NCAA Selection Committee – and three others. The regions will determine their champion and the finals will be a four-team affair starting Friday.

Vandy’s Region

Nebraska is the top seed in Region 2 along with the Dores’ opening opponent Mount St. Mary’s as well as Medaille, the latter two whom are both making their NCAA championship debuts.

Mount St. Mary’s had a 37-18 record during the season and is a member of the Northeast Conference. Medaille was the Allegheny Mountain Conference champion.

Other No. 1 seeds

McKendree is the overall No. 1 seed. North Carolina A&T and Louisiana Tech are also No.1 seeds in their regions.

Before Play Begins

All 16 teams have a two-hour practice session at the Pro Bowl. Vanderbilt is scheduled to practice from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

One of the important chores at this time is for each individual to decide which six bowling balls they will officially register to use during the tournament. Once play begins, players must use one of these six and are not allowed to go back into the paddock and haul out another ball if they think lane conditions have changed.

No Awards Dinner

COVID-19 has stripped the event of one of its finer traditions, the pre-tournament Awards Dinner. It was a time for all teams to gather and enjoy an excellent meal and conversation.

The dinner was capped off by the announcement of the All-America teams by the National Ten Pin Coaches Association. That team is now going to be announced after the tournament.

Vandy’s NCAA History

The Commodores have won the title twice (2007, 2018) and finished second three times (2011, 2013 and 2019). They have also been third three times, fifth three times and seventh twice. They have never missed being part of the field.

Recent NCAA Recaps

Vanderbilt came into the 2019 championship as defending champions with the No. 1 overall seed. It ran into a buzz saw in the first round against Sacred Heart and was thrown into the loser’s bracket where it made one of the more impressive runs in program history by beating Arkansas State, McKendree and Nebraska (twice) to advance into the championship match with Stephen F. Austin.

The run stopped there, however, as the LadyJacks took the title. In winning in 2018, Vandy got off to a rousing 2-0 start and took it from there.

Dore Stat Leaders

• Overall strike percentage: Mabel Cummins (49.2)
• Overall spare percentage: Samantha Gainor (79.3)
• Single pin spare percentage: Angelique Dalesandro (100)
• Split spare percentage: Gainor (23.5)
• First ball average: Cummins (9.1)

Last Time Out

Vanderbilt won its third Southland Bowling League championship in New Orleans. Cummins was named the tournament’s MVP and Angelica Anthony was chosen on the five-woman All-Tournament team.