LINCOLN, Neb. — Vanderbilt ended the Big Red Invitational on an uptick Sunday by defeating eventual tournament champion Arkansas State in a come-from-behind finish to highlight its two victories in three matches.
The Commodores would wind up finishing fourth in team standings based solely on total pin fall over the three-day tournament. As a result of substantial leads heading into play, Sunday’s matches at the top of the leaderboard lacked much consequence other than season win-loss marks.
Vanderbilt defeated Valparaiso 1,027-932 to open its day, completing the round-robin cycle. As the No. 4 seed, it was paired with Arkansas State while second seed McKendree faced Nebraska. Vandy would avenge a Friday loss to the Red Wolves with a 1,091-1,070 win.
That sent the Dores to what might have ordinarily been the title match against McKendree. The Bearkats got their own revenge against Vandy which had won the Friday meeting.
This time, with three Kats scoring 268 or better (that’s right, three more than 268), McKendree won easily 1,180-1,035.
So it was that the battle between Southland Bowling League powers was the day’s focal point.
Using a lineup of Angelica Anthony, Amanda Naujokas, Jennifer Loredo, Caroline Thesier and Mabel Cummins, the Commodores jumped out by about 40 pins after six frames with Anthony and Loredo contributing five strikes each.
Things were just starting to heat up.
The Red Wolves, who had the tournament title cinched based on their powerful pin counts Friday and Saturday, took off late in the sixth and racked up a dozen straight strikes to seize a 20-pin lead.
Vanderbilt fought back in the ninth with five strikes. Anthony was still striking – the Texan had seven in a row after a second frame spare – while Naujokas was working on what would become a four-bagger and Cummins was building to another of her blazing finishes.
The final frame was critical – and tense. Anthony struck out for a brilliant 280 – the ninth highest score in program history. Vandy seemingly needed every one of those pins.
Naujokas would complete her four-bagger with a 10th frame double, Loredo and Thesier would strike and, with the Dores clinging to a fragile lead, it came down to Cummins and ASU anchor Taylor Davis who had a 300 in her first game Sunday.
Cummins is rapidly earning the distinction of being one of the NCAA’s most clutch performers and she needed a first-ball strike to ice the game. She came through again, striking out to complete a closing five-bagger and insuring the victory in a well-played match.
“We put a lot of emphasis on the ninth and tenth frames,” Vanderbilt head coach John Williamson said. “You can get a lot of sticks if you strike in the ninth. You can erase deficits, which is what we did today as we were behind going into the 10th. But we had everyone strike and they had just one strike.
“Mabel needed just that first strike and she threw a really good shot. She is very deliberate – on the lanes and off. She doesn’t do anything haphazard or by chance. She’s still one of the youngest members of our team but very capable of doing big things.”
Williamson called Anthony’s 280 “impressive” and noted Naujokas’ four strikes as vital, “you can’t accomplish something on the bottom on the order if the top doesn’t come through.”
The veteran Vanderbilt coach came away thinking the mixed Nebraska experience was probably helpful to the development of his team but is still concerned that the Dores have not been able to get five players going at the same time.
“There are things that we are traditionally good at that we are not good at right now,” he said, referring to spare shooting as at least one component. “We are going to put a lot of thought – and work – into figuring out what must happen to be the team we think we should be.”
The Commodores will next host the annual Columbia 300 Music City Classic on Friday-Sunday at the Smyrna Bowling Center.
