SFA Upsets No. 2 Seed Vanderbilt, Bowls its Way into Southland Bowling League Championship Title Match

Bracket | Day Two Results | Tournament Central | Watch

DALLAS – For the first time in school history the Stephen F. Austin bowling team will be bowling for a league title Sunday morning after upsetting fourth-ranked and second-seeded Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the 2018 Southland Bowling League Championship. The fourth-seeded Ladyjacks tallied 987 total pins in the traditional team match and claimed a pinfall tally of 996 in the Baker match to upend the Commodores 2-0 at USA Bowl in Dallas.

SFA got very strong games from both senior Stephanie Schwartz (Racine, Wis.) and junior Dakotah Hazlewood (Capron, Ill.) in the traditional team match as the Ladyjacks bowled to a 987-896 win. Schwartz stamped an individual game of 240, while Hazlewood notched a 230. Freshman Dakota Faichnie (Innisfil, Ontario, Canada) contributed a 178 in the match and senior Kelsi Anderson (San Antonio, Texas) bowled a 171. Junior Paige Beeney (Salado, Texas) rounded out SFA's starting five with a game of 168.

In the Baker match, the Ladyjacks recorded more pins than Vanderbilt in four out of the five games to claim it 996-938. After edging the Commodores 184-177 in the opening game of the match, SFA posted a game of 227 as Vanderbilt bowled a 198. The Ladyjacks lone fault in the match came in game three when SFA bowled a 155, compared to the Commodores' 192. However, the Ladyjacks responded with a convincing 222-pin game four as Vanderbilt registered just a 167. SFA closed out the match and secured the semifinal triumph by escaping the Commodores by four pins (208-204) in game five.

Top-seeded Arkansas State, who is ranked No. 3 in the nation, awaits the Ladyjacks in the title match Sunday, March 25 at 9 a.m. The title match Sunday morning will conclude the three-day, double-elimination event with the champion earning the Southland Bowling League's automatic bid into the 2018 NCAA Women's Bowling Championship, held Thursday-Saturday, April 12-14 at the Tropicana Lanes in Clayton, Missouri.

SFA, ranked sixth nationally, defeated top-seeded Arkansas State in the second round of the tournament 2-0, winning the traditional team match 975-970 and the Baker match 974-939. The Red Wolves went on to run the table in the back draw, defeating the likes of seventh-seeded Louisiana Tech (2-1), eighth-seeded Monmouth (2-1) and then second-seeded Vanderbilt (2-0) in the consolation bracket final. All three of Arkansas State's back draw matches were bowled on Saturday.

The title match of the 2018 Southland Bowling League Championship will be streamed live online courtesy of InsideBowling.

Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack bowling throughout this winter and spring.

Winner's Bracket Semifinal vs. #2 Vanderbilt | W 2-0

Traditional Team Match | W, 987-896
Kelsi Anderson 171, Dakota Faichnie 178, Dakotah Hazlewood 230, Paige Beeney 168, Stephanie Schwartz 240

Baker Match | W, 996-938
W, 184-177; W, 227-198; L, 192-155; W, 222-167; W, 208-204

-SFA-

Players Mentioned

Kelsi Anderson

Paige Beeney

Dakota Faichnie

Dakotah Hazlewood

Stephanie Schwartz

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