Dores get sixth seed at Warhawk

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — For the second straight day Vanderbilt bowled well but not exceptional while facing another powerful slate of opponents and for the second straight day, the Commodores won just two of five matches at the Warhawk Open. As a result, Vanderbilt ended the two days in sixth place in the 18-team field and will accordingly draw that seed in Sunday’s Baker bracket. The best Vandy can finish is now third and that will require a more consistent effort in the three best-of-seven Baker games.

Saturday wasn’t necessarily a case of blah bowling; Vanderbilt averaged 1,009 pins per team game while four of its five Saturday opponents were averaging a quality 1,025. And while Vandy always likes a challenge, longtime followers of the program could not recall a tournament in which the Black and Gold faced so many high-octane opponents.

The Dores have played five members of last spring’s NCAA Championship field. Of their 10 opponents, eight are nationally ranked and those eight are among the other top nine tournament teams. That combination of factors never gave Vanderbilt a good chance to regroup when things were out of kilter.

Vanderbilt’s wins came over No. 4 ranked Sam Houston and unranked Lincoln while losses came against No. 5 Arkansas State, No. 8 Lincoln Memorial, and No. 21 Wisconsin-Whitewater. Yesterday Vandy played No. 2 McKendree, No. 3 Nebraska and No. 6 Stephen F. Austin.

McKendree leads the tournament, followed by Arkansas State, Nebraska and Sam Houston.

Once again, Commodore senior Kristin Quah was outstanding, finishing third individually with a five-game average of 226.40. Nebraska’s Allison Morris finished first with a 238 average. Quah was fourth two weeks ago at the Bearcat Hammer Open.

“We weren’t consistent enough to compete well when our opponents were putting up so many quality scores,” said Coach John Williamson, who wasn’t looking for excuses and shrugged off the gauntlet his team faced. “Kristin was excellent; she and Bryanna (Leyen) were our two best players. Bryanna came in after five frames of the first game so she didn’t factor into the individual placing but she must have averaged 220 for her day.”

Vanderbilt begins Sunday with a rematch with tourney host Wisconsin-Whitewater starting at 8:30 a.m. CT.