Kutztown Invite Awaits Ladyjack Bowling over the Weekend

Friday, January 19

Reading, Pa.

Stephen F. Austin

Kutztown Invitational

Kutztown Invite Awaits Ladyjack Bowling over the Weekend

1/18/2018 4:22:00 PM | Women's Bowling

SFA takes part in the Kutztown Invitational this weekend for its second tournament of 2018, competing in a field of 17 of the top-25 teams in the nation

By: Luke Bolanos | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

Facebook Live Stream

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Nearly three-quarters of the top collegiate bowling teams in the nation will be converging at the Hiester Lanes in Reading, Pennsylvania, this weekend for the 10th annual Kutztown Invitational. The seventh-ranked Stephen F. Austin bowling team will be among 17 nationally-ranked teams competing at the 28-team tournament, which is to be held Friday-Sunday, Jan. 19-21. Nine of the top-10 teams in the nation will be a part of the tournament, including fellow Southland Bowling League counterparts No. 3 Arkansas State, fourth-ranked Vanderbilt, No. 5 Sam Houston State and ninth-ranked Tulane. Monmouth, ranked 24th according to the latest National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) top-25 poll, will also be in action in Pennsylvania as the sixth SBL team in the field.

The three-day, 13-match event hosted by NCAA Division II Kutztown University will feature five, five-game Baker matches bowled Friday, followed by five traditional team matches Saturday. Bracket play will conclude the tournament Sunday with three best 4-of-7 Baker matches. Teams' pinfall total from the first two days of competition will determine seeding for Sunday's bracket play.

The Ladyjacks will be matched up with three ranked opponents during Friday's opening day. Division II Adelphi University, ranked 13th nationally, awaits SFA to open up Baker match play, followed by No. 16 Saint Francis (Pa.), LIU Brooklyn, who is tied for 14th in the nation, Howard University and Franklin Pierce University. Saturday, the Ladyjacks' competition does not get any easier with SFA taking on tournament host Kutztown, No. 12 Sacred Heart, No. 10 Fairleigh Dickinson, Duquesne and St. Francis College (N.Y.) in traditional team play.

SFA will be making its eighth appearance in the Kutztown Invite but first since 2016 after not making the trip to Reading, Pennsylvania, a year ago. The Ladyjacks have posted two top-five finishes at the event with their best result coming in 2016 as the third-place team.

Last weekend, SFA finished seventh out of 20 teams at Arkansas State's Mid-Winter Invitational. The Ladyjacks totaled 13,540 pins while posting an 8-5 record and registered five match wins over ranked opponents. Junior Paige Beeney (Salado, Texas) led SFA in team match play, averaging a game score of 199.4 to rank 34th among the field of 114 total bowlers. Junior Dakotah Hazlewood (Capron, Ill.) and freshman Sarah Voiers (Chesterton, Ind.) averaged a 191.8 and 190.8, respectively, to rank 45th and 48th among all competitors.

SFA's play at the Kutztown Invite can be viewed live via the team's Facebook page here.

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

-SFA-