FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, ILL.— Vanderbilt remained in third place after the second day of the McKendree Hammer Open, setting up an interesting Sunday title bracket as the three top ranked teams in the country are among the four programs competing for the trophy.
Nebraska had another outstanding day and has the top seed after winning all 10 matches over the two days while averaging 208.0. Host McKendree is the 2 seed with a 205.5 average and the Commodores as the three seed will have a quick rematch with No. 4 seeded North Carolina A & T. Vandy averaged 204.5 over its 10 games, far ahead of A & T.
Vanderbilt won three of five games Saturday with consistently good scores and accordingly had three of the tournament’s top seven individuals. Maria Bulanova was second with 1,098 pins (219.60 average) to Nebraska’s Meghan Straub (1,131). Kristin Quah was fourth (217.80) and Adel Wahner came in seventh (211.60). Samantha Gainor ended up 16th after being among the leaders much of the afternoon.
Bulanova’s second place finish was a quiet one in a way as several of the leaders created sparks with spectacular runs and high games. Maria toiled away with games of 191-224 and 200 before finishing with powerful 237 and 246 efforts, the latter aided by six strikes in a row.
It was a tough pull early in the day, beginning with a 1,070-1,006 loss to McKendree, followed by a well-played loss to the red-hot Cornhuskers, 1,105-1,038. Those losses were followed by wins over Prairie View, 14th ranked Lincoln Memorial and No. 11 rated North Carolina A & T. Four of Vandy’s five scores were over the 1,000 pin mark and the fifth nearly so at 993.
“We were pretty consistent today,” Coach John Williamson said. “Our challenge was trying to get five people going at the same time. We usually had four bowling well. Our spare shooting was ok, we weren’t as sharp as we were yesterday but we are ahead of where we often have been at this point in the season.”
Steady and methodical might be words to describe Vanderbilt efforts this day as scores hovered at or slightly above the 200 mark. One ‘Dore that broke that mold was Kristin Quah, who began the last game with the front eight. The senior honors student had been in this territory before – last year she had the front 11 before ending at 295 and she had a 299 at the Queens several years ago.
“At one point I looked at the board and I noticed a lot of strikes,” Quah recounted, “and then I realized it was only six or seven so I thought – ‘aah, I’m only about half through so I’ll just take them one at a time. I thought I made a good shot in the ninth, too, but it just didn’t kick out the 10.”
Quah laughingly revealed that before the game she mentioned that she had been bowling ok but wanted more.
“I was really consistent all day and before the last game I went up to Coach and said ‘I just want a big game’.
It was one of Wahner’s best collegiate days, if not her best. Her play didn’t surprise anyone in Black and Gold as her big summer and hard work had her poised for something special.
“I feel like my mentality for the season is to do what I can do,” the New Mexico junior said afterwards. “I’ve had a fair number of confidence boosts lately; I know I can make good shots and make them when I need them. Still I felt we left some shots out there but on balance it was a good day.”
Sophomore Samantha Gainor crafted steady games of 214-221-194-212-183 from the fourth spot in the rotation.
“It was a good day but I think we could have scored better if we had been a little better on our first shots,” she said. “We probably had a few too many 6-counts instead of 8’s or more.”
The Vandy rotation varied only in the leadoff spot that was shared at times by Jordan Newham, Emily Rigney and Angelique Dalesandro. Quah, Wahner, Gainor and Bulanova were set in stone the rest of the way.
Play begins at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, a typical best of seven Baker format with the winner of the Vanderbilt-North Carolina A&T game facing the loser of the Nebraska-McKendree game. The winner of the top seed game advances to the championship match.