No. 1 Huskers Hunt for Third National Title

Lincoln-The top-ranked Nebraska bowling squad is heading to the third annual NCAA Championship next week to defend its back-to-back titles. The 2006 Women’s Bowling Championship will be held at Houston, Texas, at Emerald Bowling lanes on April 13-15.

The Huskers will compete against the top eight teams in the nation, including No. 2-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson and last year’s runner-up Central Missouri State.

The competition begins Thursday, April 13, with two rounds of qualifications which will determine how the teams will be seeded for the double-elimination competition rounds. On Friday, an eight team double-elimination tournament will continue until three teams remain. The team with the highest pinfall total will advance to Saturday’s championship match, while the other two teams will compete in the losers’ bracket. The winner of the losers’ bracket will face-off against the winner’s bracket team. Should the losers’ bracket winner prevail in the first match, one more best-of-seven Baker-game match will be played to determine the NCAA champion.

The Huskers captured their first NCAA title in 2004, the inaugural season of the sport’s NCAA status. Nebraska made it two in a row last year as it went on to win its second NCAA title in April of 2005. Under Coach Bill Straub and Assistant Coach Paul Klempa, Husker women’s teams have won seven national titles in 14 years.