Nov. 4, 2017
When we last gathered, the storyline from a day ago was that an encouraging start to the day ended with discouragement. Vanderbilt tore up that script and tried a new one on for size Saturday. Felt better.
The Commodores dropped their first two team games at the Track Kat Klash, then rallied with three consecutive victories including wins over defending national champion McKendree and fifth-ranked Sam Houston State.
True, the upbeat end was a band-aide to the team’s lackluster two-day seventh place pin count, which now means the absolute best Vandy can hope to finish in Sunday’s bracket play is fifth. But the wild finish sure beats the alternative.
The Commodores will play Delaware State, who had topped VU Friday, to begin the best-of-seven Baker games Sunday at 8:15 – Central Standard Time!
“It’s a new year, a new team and we have to figure out how to have a more consistent day,” said Coach John Williamson. “We are bowling better against Top 5 teams but not as well against teams that aren’t highly rated.”
Without doubt the highlight of the young season came in Game 9 against nationally ranked No. 1 McKendree.
The `Dores trailed by as many as 60 pins as the Bearcats pounded the lanes in the middle of the game for strike after strike. But slowly the worm began to turn as Vandy hung in the fray and by the 10th frame, things were getting interesting.
Jordan Newham, Vanderbilt’s leadoff bowler, kept things going by striking out to complete a six-bagger finish. Adel Wahner in the two-hole thought it was such a good idea she cloned the strikes…and momentum was in the air. Samantha Gainor, who had a double going into the 10th, caught a tough break and opened after a split but Kristin Quah came back with a spare and 7-count.
While this was going on, the Bearcats were uncharacteristically off their A-Game with spares and opens, cracking the door ever wider. McKendree would open twice in the fateful 10th.
It came down to All-American Maria Bulanova, working on a double of her own. As the tension mounted and the lanes quieted, the sophomore from Moscow went 8-count, spare. Eight or less on her last ball would mean defeat; 9 pins would tie and a strike would climax the stirring rally. BOOM!
“I gotta strike and it’ll be over,” Bulanova thought before stepping up. “But I didn’t throw a good ball and left the 6-10. I took a deep breath and made the spare. When Breanna Clemmer (McKendree anchor) left a pin I knew the situation. I need to strike…I took a deep breath but thought I threw a bad ball – too far to the left – but the lane seemed to hold my ball. When the pins fell I yelled “Black!” really loud.” (Black-Gold is what Commodores chant after strikes.)
“That’s why she’s the anchor,” Willamson said. “Certain pitchers are closers, they have the mentality. Maria is comfortable and very capable and when it doesn’t work I don’t have to worry about her. Everyone can handle success if you make the shot but can you handle it if you don’t? Maria can.”
Williamson correctly pointed out that there were many heroines in the rally. Had Newham not “turned a 140 into a 198 with six straight strikes”, or getting three strikes in the eighth and four more in the ninth, the match would have essentially been over.
Vanderbilt would end the day topping host Sam Houston for the second week in a row. The turn-about in fortune came in Game 8, beating Prairie View 949-865. The day had begun with sluggish efforts against Central Missouri and Tulane that resulted in losses.
Nebraska led the pin count after two days with 9,988, a 199.8 average. Vanderbilt’s average was 189.8.
Quah led Vandy individuals for the second straight week; her games of 215-164-235-194-225 averaged 206.6 and put her in seventh place. The freshman Gainor was next in 20th spot at 196. Arkansas State’s Leah Glazer was first and almost unconscious with her 248.20 average over five games.
