March 25, 2017
JONESBORO, AR—Vanderbilt downed defending national champion Stephen F. Austin in the consolation final round Saturday afternoon and will bowl for the Southland Bowling League championship Sunday morning. The match will be live streamed by insidebowling.com at 9:00 a.m. (CDT)
The third-seeded Commodores topped SFA by winning the traditional team game, 915-834, and then sweeping the Lady Jacks by taking the 5-game Baker set, 995-960. The victory came on the heels of a loss in the afternoon’s opener to Arkansas State, which advanced to the title match upon the win.
“I thought we bowled much better the second game than the first,” said Coach John Williamson. “It was nice to see us bounce back after the disappointing loss to Arkansas State. We bowled well against SFA.”
One of the leaders in an otherwise balanced Vandy rotation was junior Katie Stark, who delivered traditional games of 200 and 220 and was steady in Baker play. The junior left-handed from Orlando saw action from several spots in the rotation.
“The left side is definitely playable and Katie is doing a good job of executing shots,” Williamson said. “She has waited for some time for this and she really delivered for the team today.”
Vanderbilt had a clear lead thoughtout the SFA team game behind Stark and Giselle Poss, who contributed a solid 194 on the treacherous lanes. In the baker series, Stephen F. Austin came out firing, putting up a 245 to top Vanderbilt’s otherwise decent 216. The Commodores chipped away at the 29-pin deficit to win by 35 pins.
In the day’s opening game, Vanderbilt fell to top-seeded Arkansas State in the winner’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament.
The Commodores bowled well on the difficult lanes in the traditional game but the Red Wolves recorded the highest score of the tournament, winning 1,072-971, to notch the first step toward victory in the new format, which also includes Baker play. Kristin Quah lead VU with a 221 and Stark closed with four straight strikes for a 200. All-American Jordan Richard led ASU.
Needing a win in the 5-game Baker series to stay alive and force a best of seven tie-breaker, the third-seeded ‘Dores were no match for the Red Wolves, who are bowling on their home lanes.
Arkansas State won the opening game by 72 pins and Vandy was never able to seriously challenge.
