Huskers Look to Keep Momentum Going in Texas

Nebraska Cornhuskers (29-13)
@ TRACK Kat Klash

Friday- Sunday, Dec. 4-6, 10 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 8:15 a.m. – Emerald Lanes (Houston, Texas)

Huskers Look to Keep Momentum Going in Texas
The fourth-ranked Nebraska bowling team heads to Texas this weekend to compete at the TRACK Kat Klash. The tournament will be hosted by Sam Houston State, which is tied with Nebraska at No. 4 in the latest NTCA rankings released Nov. 18. The weekend’s action will take place at Emerald Lanes in Houston, Texas.

The Huskers won the tournament a year ago and have finished in the top five each of the last four years.

Ten teams will participate this weekend, including seven ranked teams. Two of the top-five teams in the NTCA preseason poll will compete, including Nebraska and Sam Houston State. Top-10 teams Stephen F. Austin (No. 8) and Central Missouri (No. 9) will also bowl over the weekend. LIU-Brooklyn (No. 14), Adelphi (No. 24) and Jackson State (No. 25) round out the list of ranked teams in the tournament.

The Huskers finished with the highest total pinfall at the Big Red Invitational two weeks ago. NU won two of the three day-long tournaments for its first tournament victories of the season. The Huskers’ team pinfall of 14,494 over the weekend ranks second all-time in Nebraska history.

After a fourth-place finish on the first day of the tournament, the Huskers rebounded with back-to-back dominant performances on the final two days of competition. The Huskers went a combined 9-1 over the two days, defeating seven ranked teams along the way. Julia Bond and Gazmine Mason took home spots on the all-tournament team with 223.4 and 208.3 averages, respectively.

The TRACK Kat Klash begins Friday with each team playing six five-game Baker matches, beginning at 10 a.m., followed by six traditional team matches Saturday at 9:30 a.m. The standings after Saturday’s competition will determine the seeding for Sunday’s bracket-play tournament to determine a champion, consisting of three best-of-seven Baker format matches Sunday, with play set to begin at 8:15 a.m.

The Opening Frame

Looking Ahead
The Huskers will return from winter break once classes resume and head to Jonesboro, Ark., for the Mid-Winter Invitational, hosted by No. 1 Arkansas State on Jan. 15-17. The Huskers finished third at the tournament a year ago, and have finished in the top five in every year in which they have competed going back to 2007. NU won the tournament in 2013.

New Rankings
The NTCA released a new set of rankings on Nov. 18, with Arkansas State taking over the top spot in the nation. After being ranked No. 1 to begin the season, the Huskers fell to a tie for fourth with Sam Houston State. Fairleigh Dickinson was ranked second, and Vanderbilt moved up two spots to No. 3.

All-Tournament Team
Gazmine Mason and Julia Bond were each selected to the all-tournament team at the Big Red Invitational during the weekend of Nov. 12-14. Bond finished second overall with a 223.4 average while Mason finished fourth with a 208.3 average. Mason was also named to the all-tournament team at the Crusader Classic Nov. 6-8, winning MVP honors after finishing with a 223.8 average.

Makin’ History
Nebraska finished with a weekend pinfall of 14,494 at the Big Red Invitational, second-most in program history. The Huskers’ highest single-tournament pinfall occurred nearly eight years before on Nov. 16-18, 2007, when they scored a 14,968 pinfall at the Maverick Challenge.

Lincoln: Title Town
In 19 years as a varsity sport, Nebraska bowling has been one of the top programs in the nation. Coach Bill Straub has guided the Huskers to unprecedented success, winning national titles in 1991, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2015. Once bowling became an NCAA-recognized sport in 2003-04, the Huskers won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005, followed by titles in 2009, 2013 and most recently another in 2015.

Track Kat Klash - Teams Competing

Nebraska
Sam Houston State
Adelphi
Central Missouri
Grambling State
Jackson State
Louisiana Tech
LIU-Brooklyn
Stephen F. Austin
Texas Southern

Last Time Out: Huskers Dominant at Big Red Invite
The top-ranked Nebraska bowling team had its most complete performance of the season, winning each of its four traditional games and finishing with a pinfall of 4,370 on the third day of the Big Red Invitational at Sun Valley Lanes.

The Cornhuskers (29-13) won the last two days at the invite. Per rules of the event, each day is a separate tournament. The two victories are the defending national champions first tournament victories of the season. NU went 11-3 over the weekend.

No. 2 Arkansas State finished second for the day with a 3-1 record and a pinfall of 4,106 while No. 7 Wisconsin-Whitewater rounded out the top three with a 3-1 record and a pinfall of 4,099.

The day began with a matchup of the top two teams in the country, as the Huskers were looking to avenge Thursday night’s loss to Arkansas State. NU benefitted from each Red Wolves bowler leaving an open frame to begin the match and led throughout. The Huskers used a balanced performance the rest of the way as each bowler finished with a score over 200, defeating Arkansas State 1,100-950. Julia Bond finished with a 257, the second-highest score of the first round. Gazmine Mason scored a 222 while Briana Zabierek scored a 215 to help drive the Husker attack.

The Huskers took on No. 8 Central Missouri in the second match of the day. Each Husker bowler hit a strike in the first frame as NU continued its hot start. A strong 10th closed out the high-scoring match, a 1,093-1,063 NU victory. Zabierek led the Huskers with a sizzling 247, while Mason put forth a score of 235.

In the penultimate match of the weekend, the Huskers faced Wisconsin-Whitewater and used a complete performance on the way to a 1,123-970 win. After a spare to open the game, the Huskers hit nine consecutive strikes to jump out to an early lead. Bond led the way with a score of 257 while Melanie Crawford scored a 245 and Mason finished with a 236 for the Huskers.

The Huskers closed out the weekend with a match against Lincoln University. The Huskers again used a balanced attack on the way to victory, as NU put away the Blue Tigers, 1,054-855. Bethany Hedley led Nebraska with a score of 257 while Bond scored a 216.

Overall, the Huskers knocked down the most pins for the entire weekend. The Huskers’ total pinfall through the three days of competition was 14,494, the second-highest team pinfall for one tournament in Nebraska history.  Arkansas State finished second with a 14,097 pinfall and Central Missouri was third with a pinfall of 13,932.

Bond and Mason also took home spots on the all-tournament team. Bond finished the weekend with a 223.4 average and Mason finished with a 208.3 average.