Bowling Heads To Missouri For UCM Invitational
2/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Bowling
Feb. 28, 2014
2014 Central Missouri Invitational
Friday, Feb. 28 – Sunday, Mar. 2
North Kansas City, Mo.
Opening Frame
Stephen F. Austin returns to the lanes, traveling to Kansas City, Mo., for the 2014 Central Missouri Invitational. The three-day event gets underway Friday, February 28th before wrapping up Sunday, March 2nd.
Tournament Information
The 2014 Central Missouri Invitational is a three-day event being held at the AMF Pro Bowl Lanes in Kansas City, Mo. Friday’s competition will be a five-match baker-style, getting underway at 10:30 a.m. Saturday the teams will compete in five five-person team matches, leading up to Sunday’s three best-of-seven baker-style match play bracket.
Participating Teams
SFA is one of 14 teams competing in the event as the field will feature eight of the top-20 teams in the latest NTCA Coaches Poll. The sixth-ranked Ladyjacks will be joined by six other top-10 programs, including top-ranked Arkansas State, second-ranked Nebraska, fifth-ranked Central Missouri, seventh-ranked Sam Houston State, eighth-ranked Vanderbilt and ninth-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater. 14th-ranked Valparaiso will also be competing in the tournament with Alabama-Birmingham, Elmhurst, Louisiana Tech, McKendree, New Jersey City and Southern rounding out the 14-team field.
SFA Travel Squad
Head coach Amber Lemke will bring her usual nine-player travel squad to Missouri this weekend, led by seniors Sierra Gibbons, Whitney McCoy and Nicole Parkhurst. Junior Chelsea King, sophomores Melanie Crawford and Danielle Lynn and freshmen Kiara Grant, Paige Kraushaar and Brianna Newton will round out the SFA travel party.
Ladyjacks at the Central Missouri Invitational
This marks the second-straight year SFA will appear in the Central Missouri Invitational after a fourth-place showing in 2013. The Ladyjacks were in second heading into the final day of the tournament, but stumbled to an 0-3 mark on Sunday to fall to fourth, finishing behind Nebraska, Arkansas State and Vanderbilt – three teams the Ladyjacks will see this weekend.
Last Time Out
SFA competed in the Sam Houston State Track Kat Clash on February 14-16 in a tournament that had a different format than usual. Each day of competition was treated as a separate tournament as the Ladyjacks placed second on Friday, sixth on Saturday and fifth on Friday. Had the tournament followed its normal format, SFA would have ranked second overall and had a chance to compete for the Track Kat Clash championship on Sunday.
Ladyjacks Sixth in Latest NTCA Coaches Poll
SFA is currently ranked sixth in the latest NTCA Coaches Poll, which was released following the Track Kat Clash. The Ladyjacks fell one spot, receiving 430 points and sit one spot ahead of rival Sam Houston State. Arkansas State remains in the top spot, receiving 21 of the possible 24 first-place votes, with Nebraska, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Fairleigh Dickinson and Central Missouri rounding out the top-five. Vanderbilt, Wisconsin-Whitewater and St. Francis sit below the Ladyjacks and Bearkats in the bottom half of the top-10.
Looking Ahead
Following this weekend’s trip to Kansas City, SFA enters the home stretch of the 2013-14 season. The Ladyjacks will compete in their final regular season tournament next weekend, traveling to Smyrna, Tenn., for the Music City Classic. It will be the final tune-up for SFA before setting its sights on the 2014 USBC Sectionals, being held March 14-16.
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