Feb. 28, 2013
Greater Ozark Invitational: March 1-3, AMF Pro Bowl Lanes, North Kansas City, Mo.
The Field (national rank): UAB, Arkansas State (4), Central Missouri (1), Elmhurst, Louisiana Tech, Nebraska (3), Sam Houston (8), Stephen F. Austin (13), Texas Southern, Valparaiso (15), Vanderbilt(5) and Wisconsin-Whitewater (6).
Format: There will be five, 5-game Bakers Friday starting at 11:00 a.m. Saturday’s five team games start at 10:45 and Sunday’s best four of seven Baker bracket begins at 8:30.
Vandy’s Contingent: The Commodores will travel seniors Jessica Earnest and Kim Carper, junior Lauren Rhein, sophomores Natalie Goodman and Nicole Mosesso and freshmenRobyn Renslow, Tori Ferris and Amanda Fry.
Webcast Available: The Commodores’ USTREAM channel will be in operation.
Coach Comment: “The tournaments change but our goals remain basically the same,” says Coach John Williamson. “We strive for consistency and we obviously need to figure out how to compete better on Sundays. We are nearing the end of our regular season and we’ve shown progress in some areas; we want to put together three good days of bowling against a very good field. Four of the top 5 rated teams in the country will be in Kansas City, six of the top 10 and eight of the top 15 so we will see excellent competition.”
After Kansas City: The lone tournament left on Vanderbilt’s schedule is its own Columbia 300 Music City Classic March 15-16-17. A record 28 teams including nearly the entire top 20 will be on hand for this pre-NCAA test.