Oct. 30, 2008
ELMWOOD PARK, NJ — Vanderbilt’s bowling season begins Friday when the Commodores open play in the FDU Fright Knight Invite, a cleverly named Halloween tournament that includes 11 other schools.
It will be the first time Vanderbilt has traveled to Fairleigh Dickinson’s season opener.
“This is a very good tournament and will give us an early bench mark as to where we are as a team,” Coach John Williamson says. “We will see more Northeast Region opponents than we normally do and we have several players from this part of the country, so in a sense they are coming closer to home.”
The Commodores went through a lengthy and very competitive qualifying process which seemed to indicate there is plenty of quality depth on this roster.
“We will travel six women to New Jersey,” Williamson says, “and while several people separated themselves from the qualifying pack, there were a number of others trying for those last couple spots. The good competition will help us get stronger as the year progresses.”
Predictably the Commodores will take 2008 Player of the Year Josie Earnest along with senior All-Americans Michelle Peloquin and Tara Kane. Brittany Garcia, a redshirt sophomore who came on strong at the end of last year to earn NCAA All Tournament status, will make the trip.
Brittni Hamilton, the lone freshman on the team, has gotten off to a very good start and is in the mix to nobody’s surprise.
If there is a mild surprise among the half-dozen travelers, it comes in the form of Amanda Halter, a sophomore who bowled little as a freshman but has shown vast improvement in the early practices.
“I have reminded the team that bowling has a long season and it is not necessarily who starts the year but rather finding consistency and finishing the year that matters. We have some other very good bowlers that will get their chance before the season is through.”
The FDU tournament opens Friday afternoon at 1:30 ET with five Quad-Baker games. The action shifts to traditional team games Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and concludes Sunday at 9 a.m. with three play-off games using a best of seven Baker format.
The tournament will be held on Parkway Lanes using sport shot conditions.
The complete field includes New Jersey City University, Delaware State, St. Francis College, St. Peter’s College, Sacred Heart, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Fairleigh Dickinson, Morgan State, Wisconsin-Whitewater, Adelphi, Kutztown and Vanderbilt.