Jan. 26, 2012
A Big Event: The Commodores head to Pennsylvania Thursday to prepare for what is informally billed as the nation’s biggest NCAA bowling tournament – the Kutztown Invitational. Twenty eight teams will be ready Friday at 10:00 a.m. (CT) when the first of six, four-game Bakers begin.
Advance to Reading: Rebeca Reguero, Natalie Goodman, Nicole Mosesso, Brittni Hamilton, Jessica Earnest, Samantha Hesley, Kim Carper, and Courtney Morgan will represent Vanderbilt. The team will fly into Baltimore and drive the remaining two hours to Reading, Pa.
Hamilton’s Home State Recognition: Three-time All-American Brittni Hamilton was recently accorded the high honor of being honored by her home state. The New York State Senate adopted a resolution to honor Brittni after she became the first collegian to be named to a first-team All-American by Bowlers Journal – an honor squad open to any female bowler in the nation and not merely collegians.
The honor was one of many earned by Hamilton, who became the first bowler to be voted Vanderbilt’s Female Athlete of the Year in 2011.
Different Tourney Format: The field will be matched up Friday by win-loss percentage, insuring that the squads with the best winning percentages will see each other head-to-head while other teams will compete against foes with similar records. While pin fall will determine the Sunday championship bracket, Saturday’s games will be determined by a rotation with completely different pairings.
Vanderbilt is in “Group A” with Fairleigh Dickinson, Sacred Heart, Norfolk State, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Valparaiso and St. Peter’s – based upon the season win-loss percentages to date.
Watch the Livestream: Fans will be able to watch all the Vanderbilt games each day on USTREAM. There is no fee to watch; the camera will follow the Commodores and their opponent of the moment.
Coach John Williamson says: “This format will be interesting and challenging. We’ve got to come out of the chute ready on Friday as we’ll be playing some of the best teams in the nation back-to-back. We will strive for consistency and hope to maintain our edge on Saturday as we know from experience that we can’t afford a let-down.”
Kutztown History: This year marks the third time Vanderbilt has competed in the event (fourth annual tournament) and Vanderbilt has had mixed success. A year ago, the Commodores led nearly wire-to-wire but came up third on Sunday after getting scorched by a red-hot UMES team and losing a tight game with FDU before ending with a school record 1,199 for a 5-game Baker. Four of the five VU games in that match were over 222 with a 278 leading the way.
Vanderbilt this Year: It’s been a pretty good start by most standards, winning team titles at the UMES Hawk Classic and Arkansas State’s Mid-Winter Classic two weeks ago, placing second at FDU’s Invitational and third at Sam Houston State’s new tournament.