Saturday, April 13
Wickliffe, Ohio (RollHouse Wickliffe)
Stephen F. Austin
4
vs
1
Vanderbilt
Photo by: Shane Hesson
Ladyjacks Claim School’s Second Division I Team National Championship
4/13/2019 7:46:00 PM | Women's Bowling
SFA bowling raises national title trophy for second time in four years, defeats top-ranked Vanderbilt 4-1 in NCAA Championship final on ESPNU
NCAA Bowling Championship Bracket | Individual Results | NCAA Championship Release
NCAA Championship Program | Championship Central
NCAA Championship Program | Championship Central
WICKLIFFE, Ohio – The two most meaningful words in all of college athletics, national champion, belong to nine Ladyjack student-athletes and two SFA coaches after the the bowling team claimed its second NCAA title in program history Saturday night inside RollHouse Wickliffe in Wickliffe, Ohio. For at least the next 364 days nobody else can lay claim to the phrase, "reigning national champions", when referring to NCAA Bowling except the Ladyjacks after SFA captured the 2019 NCAA Women's Bowling Championship by going an unblemished 4-0.
Winning the second team national championship in SFA's NCAA Division I era, the Ladyjacks defeated top-seeded and No. 1 ranked Vanderbilt 4-1 in Saturday night's title match. Notching their second national championship in four years, the Ladyjacks improved to 2-1 in national title matches.
"It's pretty unbelievable," head coach Amber Lemke said following the national championship victory. "Our players have worked so hard up until this point tonight, to see all of their hard work pay off for them in a short period of time is really exciting for us as a program moving forward. It gives us some extra motivation that as long as you work hard, anything is possible."
A night every member of the SFA bowling team will cherish for the rest of their days on this earth, the Ladyjacks recovered from an opening game setback (183-167) and bowled some of their finest games of the national championship week. In front of a national TV audience that watched live on ESPNU, SFA caught fire in game two of the match and never looked back.
"As a team we tell them that we never want to hit the panic button, so we just let it come to us," commented coach Lemke. "We knew we were making good shots, but unfortunately we just weren't filling frames. We knew we just had to keep putting the ball there and eventually it was going to come to us. I think there were a lot of nerves in the first game with a lot of our players not used to being under the TV lights. When we started getting in the groove and getting some better shots and making some spares, I think everybody gained a little more confidence and got comfortable. I think that really turned the match around."
Sophomore Dakota Faichnie, who subbed into the match at the end of game one, took over the No. 2 spot in the Ladyjacks' lineup and sparked SFA's comeback by rolling a strike. It would be the first of six-straight strikes for the Ladyjacks, who bowled their way to an impressive 222-166 game two triumph to even up the match at 1-1.
SFA's five-bowler lineup of freshman Carlene Beyer, Faichnie, sophomore Sarah Gill and seniors Paige Beeney and Dakotah Hazlewood all threw strikes to begin game three as the Ladyjacks held on for a 203-175 game win. Remaining locked in and the least bit satisfied with a 2-1 lead, SFA totaled its highest pinfall of the night in game four. Getting three consecutive strikes from Faichnie, Gill and Beeney, the Ladyjacks closed out the game with a second strike from Beeney and back-to-back strikes from lynchpin bowler Hazlewood to take the fourth stanza 224-190 and go up 3-1.
Needing just one more game win to clinch the best-of-seven Baker match, SFA got a strike from Faichnie and then four-straight strikes from Beeney, Hazlewood, Beyer and Faichnie again. Hazlewood closed out the fifth game with three strikes to seal the deal at 213-202 and secure the Ladyjacks' second national championship, 4-1.
Both of SFA's All-Americans claimed 2019 NCAA Women's Bowling Championship all-tournament team honors. Beeney, who was named National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) All-American honorable mention earlier this week, was phenomenal in the match. She bowled eight strikes, picked up a spare and left just one frame open Saturday in the title match en route to being named NCAA Championship MVP. In the three traditional team matches during the week, Beeney averaged a 208.7 game score and knocked down a total of 626 pins.
"She really just channeled everything out and focused on just us and her and what she was doing, taking the environment out of play," spoke Lemke on Beeney's performance. "She provided a much needed spark and obviously set up our anchor multiple times to give Hazlewood a chance to win games. Anytime you have somebody who is throwing it as well as her in a setting like that everyone else feeds off of it. Beeney really provided a spark for the rest of us and we made a sub in the second game with the other Dakota (Faichnie), who came in firing. She didn't have any nerves, she was just ready to go and provided a much needed momentum shift for us."
After picking up NTCA All-American First Team accolades Wednesday night, Hazlewood was named to the NCAA Championship all-tournament team as she tallied seven strikes against the Commodores in the title match and collected five spares. She finished seventh among all bowlers in the three traditional team matches during the week, averaging a 220 game score with a pinfall total of 660.
Hazlewood and Beeney were both on the Ladyjacks' 2016 national championship team and close out their NCAA careers as the school's only two-time national champions in any sport.
Beyer was SFA's top individual bowler in the NCAA Championship's traditional team matches, averaging a 222 in three games and accumulating a pinfall total of 666 to finish fifth among all bowlers in Cleveland.
The 2019 NCAA Bowling Championship field was comprised of 12 teams with eight schools rewarded automatic qualification through conference championships. SFA, who is ranked sixth nationally in both NCAA RPI and the latest National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) top 25 poll, was one of four NCAA national title contenders who received an at-large selection. Ranked No. 1 in the NCAA's RPI rankings, Vanderbilt joined second-ranked McKendree, fourth-ranked Sam Houston State and third-ranked Nebraska as the four teams placed in the championship bracket in Ohio. The remaining eight teams competed in opening round matches April 5-7. Opening round teams and matchups were determined by the NCAA women's bowling committee based on selection criteria and geography.
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack bowling throughout the spring.
NCAA Bowling Championship Final vs. No. 1 Vanderbilt | W, 4-1
Best 4-of-7 Baker Match | W, 4-1
L, 183-167; W, 222-166; W, 203-175; W, 224-190; W, 213-202
-SFA-
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Bowling
/ Women's Bowling
/ Women's Bowling
/ Women's Bowling
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