Vanderbilt 8th at SFA Lady Jack Classic

Feb. 12, 2017

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Vanderbilt placed eighth in the Stephen F. Austin Lady Jack Classic on Sunday, wrapping up the three-day tournament with a victory over Long Island University and losses to Arkansas State and Maryland Eastern Shore.

Almost from the git-go, the fifth-ranked Commodores struggled to get their game in high gear at Houston’s Copperfield Lanes. They suffered from slow starts Friday and Saturday and while they were managing to win a good percentage of their matches here (9-4 over three days), they often had momentum snapping splits and opens that robbed them of high pin counts required in this tournament that featured nearly all of the nation’s top ranked teams.

On Sunday the ‘Dores drew No. 8 seeded Long Island and the two teams got locked into one of those matches where the left lane was scoring high and the right lane was tougher than a two dollar Texas steak. The teams traded wins on the left side and Vandy led 3-2 heading onto that pesky right lane.

While the Commodores higher seed would give them lane choice if the match reached seven games, they obviously were looking for a major spark to win in six. They found it in freshman anchor Maria Bulanova, who picked up her ball in the 10th frame needing two strikes (a double in bowling terminology) to surpass the 196 total already registered by the Blackbirds. The Moscow native pounded home three straight strikes, giving her team the win and setting a good early tone.

That was the high-water mark however. Vanderbilt was poised to polish off Arkansas State with a 3-1 lead but some costly splits and opens cracked the door for the Red Wolves to rush through. ASU ran off three straight and won the match, 4-3.

It was downhill from there. After trading games with Maryland-Eastern Shore to sit 2-2 in the best of seven, the Hawks ended with 247-256 games while Vandy could put up little resistance.

The Commodores get several much needed weeks off their tournament schedule before their next tournament in New Jersey. Vanderbilt coaches said afterward that this tournament exposed some areas of needed practice emphasis as the team gears up for the stretch run of the season.