Friday, January 18
Limerick, Pa.
All Day
Stephen F. Austin
vs
Kutztown Invitational
Photo by: SFA Athletics
Ladyjacks Capture Kutztown Invitational Title with Pair of Wins over No. 4 Arkansas State
1/20/2019 5:41:00 PM | Women's Bowling
SFA bowling wins its first tournament championship since 2016 NCAA title, fourth in program history
LIMERICK, Pa. – For the first time since earning the school's inaugural NCAA Division I team national championship in April of 2016, the SFA bowling team captured a tournament title Sunday afternoon inside Limerick Bowl in Limerick, Pennsylvania. The Ladyjacks defeated fellow Southland Bowling League member and fourth-ranked Arkansas State twice in bracket play Baker matches to claim Kutztown University's 2019 Kutztown Invitational title, earning the program's fourth tournament championship in its 10th year of existence.
"It was a total team effort all weekend," head coach Amber Lemke said following the tournament. "Everyone on the team competed and contributed to our success this weekend. I'm really excited for this team and where we can go, putting in all the hard work at practice and then being able to see it payoff is an amazing thing to watch. This was our most consistent tournament from day one to day three that we have had in a long time."
Heading into Sunday's bracket play as the No. 2 seed, SFA defeated the top-seeded Red Wolves 4-3 in the opening round before ousting Arkansas State 4.5-1.5 in the championship match. Due to a team dropping out of the three-day event and leaving an odd number of teams (27), the Ladyjacks received a match off from competition following their first-round win.
SFA jumped out to a 2-0 lead in its first bout with the Red Wolves, taking game one and two of the match by scores of 167-157 and 195-189. However, Arkansas State rolled back-to-back games of 213 and 217 to tie things up at 2-2, before the Ladyjacks earned a lopsided 206-152 game five. After the Red Wolves claimed game six, 221-207, SFA worked its way to a 226-201 decisive game seven victory to land a spot in the title match.
Following its first-round defeat, Arkansas State bested third-seeded and seventh-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson 4-1 to reach the championship match where both teams bowled a 158 in the opening game. The Ladyjacks took a 1.5-0.5 lead in the affair with an impressive 246-168 game two triumph but a 243-167 game three went the way of the Red Wolves, tying the match up once again at 1.5-1.5. SFA edged Arkansas State by two pins in both games four and five, 180-178 and 193-191 respectively, before clinching the tournament title with a 192-182 game six victory.
In both matches Sunday, the Ladyjacks started sophomore Sarah Voiers, junior Megan Eaglehouse and sophomores Dakota Faichnie and Sarah Gill with senior Paige Beeney serving as SFA's linchpin.
The Ladyjacks finished the event with a near-perfect 11-1 record and a pinfall total of 12,785, while runner-up Arkansas State tallied 14,060 pins over the weekend and posted a 10-3 mark. Fourth-seeded and eighth-ranked Maryland-Eastern Shore took home third place after earning a 4-2 win over fourth-place finisher Fairleigh Dickinson.
After averaging a 242.4 score in five traditional team games Saturday, senior Dakotah Hazlewood was named Kutztown Invitational MVP as she earned top individual honors among 182 bowlers with a tournament-best pinfall total of 1,212. Her 242.4 average was the highest by a Ladyjack bowler in five traditional games since First-Team All-American Stephanie Schwartz ('18) averaged a 245.6 at the 2017 Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Invitational.
Up Next…
The Ladyjacks will have two weeks off from competition before returning to tournament action in Arlington, Texas, at the Prairie View A&M Invitational Friday-Sunday, Feb. 1-3.
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack bowling throughout the winter and spring.
Kutztown Invitational – Day Three Results
Baker Matches (bracket play)
Match One | No. 10 SFA 4 – No. 4 Arkansas State 3
W, 167-157; W, 195-189; L, 213-168; L, 217-193; W, 206-152; L, 221-207; W, 226-201
Match Two | No. 10 SFA 4.5 – No. 4 Arkansas State 1.5
T, 158-158; W, 246-168; L, 243-167; W, 180-178; W, 193-191; W, 192-182
-SFA-
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Bowling
/ Women's Bowling
/ Women's Bowling
/ Women's Bowling
/ Women's Bowling
/ Women's Bowling
/ Women's Bowling
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