No. 1 Nebraska Hosts NCAA Championship

The top-ranked Nebraska bowling team will be hosting the fifth-annual NCAA Women’s Bowling Championships on April 10-12 at Thunder Alley in Omaha. Neb. Tickets for the tournament are priced at $5 for single session passes and $20 for all-session passes. Tickets may be purchased through the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office at 800-8BIGRED or at the door during the event.

The competition is set to begin on Thursday, April 10 with the first qualifying round from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 pm. and the second qualifying round from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Four more rounds will be played on Friday, April 11, with action set to begin at 9:30. An online broadcast of Friday's elimination games will be available on the bowling homepage at NCAA.com. The championship round will be broadcast live on ESPNU on Saturday, April 12, at 7 p.m. Central. Each day, promotional giveaways will be provided to the first 300 fans to enter Thunder Alley. Seat cushions, water bottles and sling bags are among the prizes given away.

Thunder Alley is located at 20902 Cumberland Drive in Elkhorn, Neb. For directions, click here.

The Huskers, who have earned their fifth-consecutive NCAA championship bid, are one of eight teams competing in the championships, including Maryland-Eastern Shore, Arkansas State, Central Missouri, Minnesota State-Mankato, New Jersey City, Sacred Heart and Vanderbilt.

The upcoming NCAA Bowling Championships mark the first time in bowling history that Nebraska has hosted a collegiate bowling championship event.

Understanding the NCAA Bowling Tournament
The morning session on Thursday will consist of regular-style games, while the afternoon session will be a series of Baker-style games. The pinfall on Thursday will be used to seed Friday’s tournament, which will be similar to the College World Series bracket. The team who averages the most on Thursday will be the No. 1 seed, while the team who averages the least will be the No. 8 seed. The teams will go head-to-head in a double elimination tournament on Friday. All games on Friday and Saturday will be in a Baker-style format.

In the Baker-style format, each team will have five players bowling two frames a piece to complete a ten-frame game. The two teams competing will play best four-out-of-seven Baker-style games to determine a winner.

Nebraska's NCAA History
This week the Huskers will participate in their fifth-consecutive NCAA Championship tournament since bowling became an NCAA-sanctioned sport in 2004.

NU captured its first NCAA championship title in 2004. The Huskers then went on to claim their second title in April of 2005. Last season, the Huskers placed third overall at the NCAA Championships. Under Head Coach Bill Straub and Assistant Coach Paul Klempa, the Husker women’s bowling teams have won seven national titles.

While team accomplishments have been paramount, numerous Huskers have enjoyed individual success. NU has had at least one All-American in each year for 18 years, dating back to its club program days. Since 1989, 19 Huskers have combined for a total of 41 first-, second- and third-team All-America awards, while Kim Berke (1992), Diandra Hyman (2000), Shannon Pluhowsky (2001, 2004, 2005), Lindsay Baker (2006) and Amanda Burgoyne (2007) were each chosen as the National College Bowler of the Year.

2007 NCAA Tournament in Review
Following an outstanding regular season that included five tournament titles, the Huskers earned their fourth consecutive bid to the NCAA Championships on April 12-14 in Apopka, Fla.

After one day of competition, Nebraska sat in second place just 15 pins behind top-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson. NU shot a total pinfall of 8,553 over nine games in the qualifying rounds. The Huskers rolled a pinfall of 4,235 in the traditional format before shooting a 4,318 in the Baker-style competition.
Former Husker Adrienne Miller earned a third-place finish on the day, averaging a career-high 230.75 over four games. She also claimed the singles third-game high, rolling a 259 over 10 frames. Cassandra Leuthold also came on strong, averaging a 226.25 over four games.

After Thursday’s qualifying rounds, NU earned a second-place seed in Friday’s double elimination tournament. The Huskers started first-round action on the right foot, defeating seventh-seeded New Jersey City 4-2.

Upsets struck the top teams in the second round, as Fairleigh Dickinson fell to Maryland-Eastern Shore and Nebraska fell to Vanderbilt, 4-2.

The Huskers then faced Central Missouri State in round three, where NU defeated the Jennies, 4-3. Fairleigh Dickinson also defeated Sacred Heart to advance to round five.

Nebraska ended its 2007 NCAA Championship appearance on April 13 with a fifth-round loss to No. 5 Maryland-Eastern Shore. Fairleigh Dickinson also lost to Vanderbilt, resulting in a third-place tie between Nebraska and Fairleigh Dickinson.