April 14, 2015
WICHITA, KS—Vanderbilt All-American Robyn Renslow staged a stirring rally to defeat Wichita State’s Sydney Brummett at the Intercollegiate Singles Championship and advanced to Saturday’s championship round of four.
The Intercollegiate Singles includes 16 collegiate bowlers from both NCAA and club programs who earned the right to compete after qualifying at sites around the country last month.
Renslow had finished the eight game qualifying round in second place behind Verity Crawley of Webber International after averaging 207. As a result she earned two byes in the bracket designed to determine a foursome that will compete for the championship Saturday afternoon, an event that will be shown on tape delay by CBS Sports in May.
The Vanderbilt junior found herself down 41 pins after two of the three games against Brummett.
“I needed a big game and I was hoping to catch a few breaks from my opponent,” Renslow said afterwards. “I thought I could capitalize on them if they came.”
Renslow began the third game with two strikes, then converted a spare and proceeded to strike out from there for a spectacular 279 to edge Brummett by 11 pins. She will play Nebraska’s Julia Bond in one semi-final game Saturday while Crawley and Emily Eckoff of Hastings College square off in the other semi. Bond and Renslow finished 1-2 in the recent NCAA Championship singles play.
Renslow said that it took a few games to get into high gear.
“There was a little glitch in the practice and I had a rough first game figuring things out,” she said. “I worked on staying calm and relaxed and found the line as the day progressed.”
It will be a busy few days for Renslow, who must fly back to Nashville Wednesday to take a final examination Thursday on campus. She and her coaches John Williamson and Josie Earnest then will fly back to Wichita Friday to prepare for the semifinals, set for 3:30 p.m. (CDT).
Renslow is the second Vanderbilt bowler to compete in this event. Brittni Hamilton won the championship in 2011.
