No. 3 SFA Opens 2015-16 Season in New Orleans
10/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Bowling
2015 Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Invitational
Friday, October 16 – Sunday, October 18
AMF All-Star Lanes | Kenner, La.
Opening Frame
Stephen F. Austin kicks off its 2015-16 season with a return trip to the Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Invitational in Kenner, Louisiana. Hosted by Tulane University, the three-day event kicks off Friday, October 16, wrapping up Sunday, October 18.
Tournament Information
The fourth annual Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Invitational is a three-day event, beginning with six five-game baker matches at 9 a.m. Friday morning. Saturday the schedule calls for six team games, beginning at 9 a.m., leading into Sunday’s best-of-seven baker match bracket play, getting underway at 8:30 a.m. It will be a good tune-up for the Ladyjacks as the lanes will serve as the host venue for the 2016 Southland Bowling League Championships March 25-26, 2016.
Participating Teams
The third-ranked Ladyjacks are one of a handful of nationally-ranked programs competing in this weekend’s event in Louisiana, including five other teams ranked among the top-10. Top-ranked Nebraska, second-ranked Arkansas State, fifth-ranked Vanderbilt, sixth-ranked Sam Houston State and 10th-ranked North Carolina A&T comprise the top-10 teams competing with Tulane (No. 19) and Prairie View A&M (No. 21) also ranked in the NTCA preseason poll. Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M, Jackson State, Louisiana Tech, Southern and Texas Southern round out the 15-team field.
SFA Travel Squad
Eight Ladyjacks will make the trip to Louisiana this weekend, led by senior Danielle Lynn and juniors Kiara Grant and Paige Kraushaar. Sophomores Kelsi Anderson and Morgan Reising begin their second season competing at SFA with junior transfer Carly Larson and freshmen Paige Beeney and Dakotah Hazelwood competing in their first events for the Ladyjacks.
Ladyjacks at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Invitational
SFA will be competing in the AllState Sugar Bowl Collegiate Invitational for the fourth time as the Ladyjacks have finished no worse than third at the previous events. SFA is coming off a runner-up showing at the event in 2014, falling to rival Sam Houston State in the championship match, one year after the Ladyjacks captured the team title in 2013, the first tournament victory in program history. SFA also finished third at the event in 2012.
SFA Third in NTCA Preseason Poll
Expectations are high for SFA entering the 2015-16 season as the Ladyjacks are coming off an NCAA national runner-up showing. SFA was tabbed third in the preseason National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) poll, garnering 844 total points with a pair of first place votes. Nebraska, the reigning NCAA champions, is the preseason number one as the Ladyjacks are 21 points behind second-place Arkansas State. Fairleigh Dickinson sits fourth with Vanderbilt ranking fifth as seven of the eight Southland Bowling schools are represented in the top-25.
Familiar Faces
SFA enters 2015-16 returning all but one of its key participants from last season’s NCAA tournament run, including NTCA Freshman of the Year and first team All-American Stephanie Schwartz and honorable mention All-American Paige Kraushaar. Head coach Amber Lemke returns for her fifth season at the helm of the Ladyjacks, earning NTCA National Coach of the Year honors last season.
Looking Ahead
SFA returns to action in two weeks, heading to North Brunswick, New Jersey, for the Fairleigh Dickinson New Jersey Jamboree October 30th through November 1st. The event will be held at the Brunswick Zone Carolier Lanes, the same facility that will host the 2016 NCAA Championships in April.
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