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Records Fall But ‘Dores Bow 10/19/2005 HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Vanderbilt rewrote its school record book but so did a torrid Alabama A&M bowling team as the Commodores lost their opening match of the year Wednesday. Three “team” games are played with all five team member scores added together, then two “Baker” games are played with team members rotating frames to achieve a score. The winning team must win at least three of the five games. The hosts, defending Eastern Division champions of the Southwest Athletic Conference, were well over their career averages all afternoon in edging the Commodores 998-993 in game one and outlasting Vanderbilt 1101-1,081 in the second. In the third and deciding game, A&M rolled a red-hot 1122 to VU’s 1017. The team’s split the two, best-of-five Baker games. Freshman Michelle Peloquin (Enfield, Conn.) got her collegiate career off to a sensational start averaging 250 on the day. The Endfield, Conn., product rolled a 246 in the opening game, then came back with a 255 in the second game after opening with four one-pin spares. She closed with a 249. All her scores and her 750 series shattered existing school records. The 1,081 team score was a new Commodore team record for its second year program. <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />SeniorJessicaTower had two strong games before faltering in the third. The Denver, Colo., native had a career high 216 in her second game. In the Baker competition, senior Jennifer Redmond was inserted into the lineup for Tower.
“I was pleased with our performance for the most part,” said Vanderbilt Coach John Williamson. “We happened to catch a very good team having a career day on its home lanes. Michelle had a 750 series and while we didn’t have our complete “A” game going, what I saw for the most part was encouraging. It definitely was a learning experience for our team with four freshmen getting their college debut. This was one of our goals when we scheduled this match. We can and will bowl better than this as the year progresses. We look forward to our next competition.” Despite her sensational day, Peloquin said it was a learning experience for her in that she has never bowled for a school team as Connecticut does not field high school bowling. “Regardless of how well you may do individually, it doesn’t matter if your team loses,” Peloquin said. “The team atmosphere is very supportive but I think there is more pressure on your shot because it affects four others. I thought my game was ok today but we wanted to win as a team.” <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> “Last year they had a similar day against us,” Tower said. I thought I had a pretty good day except for that third game, which was rough,” said Tower. “I had four splits in that game and had trouble converting them. But it is obvious that this year is a very different for us,” referring to the influx of talented freshmen. Several Lady Bulldogs had big days. Alex McIntyre rolled a career high 277 in the third game as all five A & M members were over 200. Shanice Graham had a 236 to lead the hosts in the second game. The Alabama A & M school record had been 1,083 and the Lady Bulldogs topped that twice this afternoon. The Commodores will return to action the weekend of Oct. 28 when they head to Jonesboro, Ark., for Arkansas State’s at the Lady Indian Classic. Vanderbilt Scores |
