Photo by: Shane Hesson
Ladyjacks Go 2-0 Thursday at Intercollegiate Team Championships, Advance to Third Round
4/19/2019 1:11:00 AM | Women's Bowling
SFA bowling one of four unbeaten teams remaining among national championship’s 16-team field
DAYTON, Ohio – The SFA bowling team picked up right where it left off from this past weekend's NCAA national title run Thursday at the United States Bowling Congress' (USBC) 2019 Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITC) in Dayton, Ohio. The Ladyjacks, who claimed the school's second NCAA Division I team national title and captured the program's second national championship in the last four years just five short days ago, began their quest for another national title on a high note inside the Poelking Lanes South.
SFA advanced to the national championship's third round following a pair of best 4-of-7 Baker match wins Thursday and is one of only four remaining unbeaten teams among the tournament's 16-team field. Friday, the Ladyjacks will bowl for a spot in the 2019 ITC semifinals as they have a rematch with top-seeded McKendree University in the national championship's third round. Last weekend, SFA upset second-seeded McKendree 2-1 in a second round mega match of the NCAA Bowling Championship.
The Ladyjacks clinched the No. 4 seed following 24 games of qualifying Thursday morning, sitting in seventh place after the first block of 12 games. Rolling four 200-pin games, SFA tallied 2,215 total pins in the qualifying's first set of 12 games before accumulating an additional 2,479 pins in the second set of 12 qualifying games. The Ladyjacks posted seven 200-pin games in the final 12 games of qualifying, including a day-high 248 in game 24, to finish with a pinfall total of 4,694.
McKendree claimed the top seed for double-elimination bracket play after notching 4,978 pins in qualifying, while Indiana Tech (4,724 pins) earned the No. 2 seed and St. Ambrose University (4,705 pins) the third seed.
Taking on 13th-seeded Mount Mercy University in the opening round of double-elimination bracket play, SFA scored a 4-0 win. The Ladyjacks reached game scores of 175, 172, 196 and 203 as Mount Mercy was only able to post games of 136, 145, 142 and 172. Advancing to the ITC's second round, SFA took on No. 5 seed Webber International where it was met with a slightly stiffer competition. Jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the best 4-of-7 Baker match, the Ladyjacks took game one 220-157, game two 198-195 and game three 196-177. Game four went the way of Webber International as the opposition scored a 179, compared to SFA's 142. However, the Ladyjacks sealed the match with a convincing 46-pin win in game five (187-141).
The three-day national championship will continue Friday with SFA's third-round match against No. 1 seed McKendree slated for 12 p.m. CST on lanes 33 and 34. Should the Ladyjacks come out victorious versus McKendree, SFA would bowl against one of two elimination bracket winners Friday afternoon at 4:15 p.m. CST.
A USBC collegiate national champion will be crowned Saturday, April 20 with the 2019 ITC finals at 10 a.m. CST. The Ladyjacks are just two match wins away from bowling for their second national title in eight days.
All rounds of the double-elimination bracket feature one best 4-of-7 Baker match with the national title being decided in a best 3-of-5 Baker match. The entire ITC can be streamed live via BowlTV.com with a subscription. The ITC title match will be televised on tape delay on CBS Sports Network Tuesday, May 7 at 7 p.m. CST.
The ITC brings together the top 16 women's and top 16 men's teams in the country to compete for national titles and outside of the NCAA Bowling Championship, the ITC is the pinnacle event of the collegiate bowling season.
SFA qualified for the 16-team championship field back in March at the ITC Smyrna sectional in Smyrna, Tennessee, securing its eighth-straight appearance at the USBC's collegiate national championship tournament after earning runner-up honors among 16 total teams. The Ladyjacks came a mere five pins from taking home the section title by tallying a pinfall total of 12,497 in 64 Baker games across two days.
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack bowling throughout the spring.
2019 ITC First Round vs. No. 13 Mount Mercy | W, 4-0
Best 4-of-7 Baker Match
W, 175-136; W, 172-145; W, 196-142; W, 203-172
2019 ITC Second Round vs. No. 5 Weber International | W, 4-1
Best 4-of-7 Baker Match
W, 220-157; W, 198-195; W, 196-177; L, 179-142; W, 187-141
-SFA-
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