Photo by: Hardy Meredith | SFA Photography
Bowling Heads into 2018-19 Ranked Sixth in National Poll
10/3/2018 5:52:00 PM | Women's Bowling
Ladyjacks return six letter winners for their 2018-19 campaign and welcome one newcomer after reaching Southland Bowling League Championship title match
WHITEWATER, Wis. – The 2016 NCAA national champion Stephen F. Austin bowling team has been tabbed as the sixth-best team in the country according to the National Tenpin Coaches Association's (NTCA) 2018-19 Preseason Poll, which was released Wednesday afternoon. The Ladyjacks are one of an impressive six Southland Bowling League programs to appear in the national preseason poll.
Defending NCAA national champion and fellow Southland Bowling League member Vanderbilt received 32 out of 40 first-place votes to take the top position in the poll. The Bearcats of NCAA Division II McKendree University received six first-place votes as the No. 2 team in the nation after taking home runner-up honors in national championship match last spring. Nebraska claimed one first-place vote to earn a preseason ranking of No. 3, while Southland Bowling League member Arkansas State also earned a first-place vote and is fifth in the preseason poll.
Sam Houston State, who checks in at No. 4, joins 10th-ranked Tulane and No. 17 Louisiana Tech as the remaining Southland Bowling League representatives in the top-25 poll. Youngstown State, who joined the league over the summer, and Valparaiso are both receiving votes in the national rankings.
SFA ended the 2017-18 season ranked No. 6 in the nation after making a run at the 2018 Southland Bowling League Championship, reaching the title match before falling to top-seeded and third-ranked Arkansas State. The Ladyjacks went on to finish among the final six teams at the 2018 United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Team Championships after claiming six top-five finishes during the regular season.
Entering 2018-19, SFA brings back six letter winners from last season and has eight total returners, while welcoming freshman Carlene Beyer from Ogdensburg, Wisconsin, (Little Wolf HS) as its lone newcomer. The Ladyjacks will rely on its seniors, Paige Beeney and Dakotah Hazlewood, for leadership with returning Southland Bowling League All-Tournament Team member Dakota Faichnie primed for her sophomore year.
SFA's fall campaign will begin Friday-Sunday, Oct. 19-21 in New Orleans, Louisiana, when the Ladyjacks take on Tulane's Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Invite.
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack bowling throughout the fall.
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