MILLSBORO, DEL. (November 20, 2016)—The Sacred Heart women's bowling team finished tenth at the UMES Hawk Classic this weekend in Millsboro, Del. Lauren Hoffman was the Pioneers' highest individual finisher. Her 202.17 game average ranked 14th amongst 130 bowlers. SHU entered the bracket as the nine seed after going 5-6 over two days of qualifying and an overall pinfall of 10,230.
After topping North Carolina A&T 4-1 in the first round of the bracket, the Pioneers took on eighth seeded Tulane and lost 4-2. That sent Sacred Heart to take on Northeast Conference foe LIU Brooklyn, who SHU defeated for the league championship last season, in the final match to decide ninth and tenth place. The Pioneers stumbled in the first three games allowing the Blackbirds to take an early 3-0 lead in the match before claiming the fourth game. But LIU Brooklyn recovered to take game five and win the match.
Sacred Heart will take a break from competition over the Thanksgiving weekend before hosting the first Northeast Conference meet of the season December 3-4 at Wallingford Bowl.
Day 1 of Qualifying:
The Pioneers went 2-3 in baker matches on the first day of qualifying.
Match 1:
- Stephen F. Austin 959 – SHU 941
- The Pioneers opened the UMES Hawk Classic against the defending National Champs, who they upset last week at the Warhawk Classic
- SHU got out the a small lead after the first two games, 368-338, but the Jacks fought back with three straight 200+ games to take the match
Match 2:
- SHU 970 – North Carolina A&T 887
- Sacred Heart, while winning three of the five games, came up with two big wins in games one and four, 200-157 and 212-166 respectively, that really cemented the win
Match 3:
- Central Missouri 898 – SHU 894
- Each team won two close games and tied at 163 in the fourth game, but the Jennies just managed to edge out Sacred Heart by four points in the end
Match 4:
- SHU 871 – Howard 858
- It was another close match, but this time the Pioneers came out on top
- After Howard took the first two games by narrow margins, the Pioneers rebounded and bested them in the final three to take home the win
Match 5:
- Alabama-Birmingham 976 – SHU 972
- In their best match of the day, the Pioneers fell just short once more
- It took Alabama-Birmingham three 200+ games to narrowly defeat the Pioneers who opened the match with three 190+ games before throwing a 213 in game four
Day 2 of Qualifying:
Using a different lineup every match, SHU went 3-3 in traditional team matches finishing the day strong with two straight wins.
Match 6:
- Adelphi 983 – SHU 956
- Sophomore Casey Smith led the team and was one of four Pioneers to throw 190+ as she tossed a 199
Match 7:
- Tulane 952 – SHU 873
- Hoffman posted the highest game for the Pioneers as SHU suffered its second loss of the day, tallying 199
Match 8:
- SHU 933 – Coppin State 840
- Sarah Rhodes and Hoffman posted Sacred Heart's first 200+ games of the day in the win over Coppin State. Rhodes led the way with a 203, while Hoffman was just two pins behind her
Match 9:
- Sam Houston 934 – SHU 901
- Hoffman bested her teammates by over 20 points throwing a 221 game
Match 10:
- SHU 955 – Norfolk State 884
- Amanda Nardiello reentered the lineup in the fifth match of the day to lead the team with a 225 game. Rhodes was right behind her with a 220 to help the Pioneers to victory
Match 11:
- SHU 967 – Kutztown 802
- The Pioneers picked up an importantly big win over Kutztown as they want to carry that positive momentum into bracket play
- SHU used three 200+ games to take down the Golden Bears. Dominique Newton led the Pioneers throwing 233, as Amanda Tyrrell and Hoffman posted 216 and 204 respectively
The Bracket:
Match 1:
- SHU 4 – North Carolina A&T 1
- The Pioneers squeezed out a two-pin victory in the first game, 225-223, and took the next two 179-134 and 190-181 respectively
- North Carolina A&T picked up their only win in the fourth game 204-160, but Sacred Heart sealed the victory in the fifth game with a decisive 221-166 win
Match 2:
- Tulane 4 – SHU 2
- SHU stumble in the first game, but rebound in the second to even the match with the 215-165 win
- The Pioneers tipped the match in their favor taking game three 167-152, but the Green Wave fought back winning the fourth and fifth games for a 3-2 match lead
- Tulane carried the momentum of back-to-back wins into the sixth game to clinch the match
Match 3:
- LIU Brooklyn 4 – SHU 1
- It was a rematch of last year's NEC final as the Pioneers and LIU Brooklyn faced off to decide ninth and tenth place. Unlike last year's championship, it was the Blackbirds that would come out on top
- LIU Brooklyn won the first three games, before the Pioneers managed a 181-156 win in game four
- Unfortunately, that is the only win SHU would get as the Blackbirds saved their best game for last downing the Pioneers 234-159
