Huskers Leading after First Day in Delaware

New Castle, Del. - The third-ranked Nebraska bowling team went 5-0 in their first day of competition at the Northeast Classic, tallying a pinfall of 5,443 and finishing in first place.

The Cornhuskers matched up against Wagner in its first five-game total pinfall baker match of the morning and started with Haley Swindle, Karina Capron, Kayla Verstraete, Anna Callan and Jillian Martin. In game one, Nebraska tallied five strikes and rolled a 197 over the Seahawks’ 146. The Huskers bowled a 174 in the second to take a commanding 371-294 lead. Martin led the way for the Big Red in game three with four strikes and struck out the 10th frame as the team bowled a clean game and a 236 to push the total-pin advantage to 123 over Wagner. Martin again recorded four strikes as Nebraska tallied four strikes in a row in and seven total in game four but Wagner topped the Huskers 202-189. Martin rolled her ninth straight strike in game five as the team bowled a 205 to take down the Seahawks, 1,001-854.

The Huskers moved on to face No. 13 McKendree in the second match of the day. NU recorded six strikes in game on and scored a 234 over the Bearcat’s 159 to take an early 75 pin lead. The Big Red tallied nine strikes in a row to close out game two and scored a 259, increasing their lead to 493-339. The Cornhuskers strike streak continued into the third as the team recorded their 15th consecutive strikes as the team rolled a 279 and took a commanding 772-516 overall match lead. In game four, Nebraska bowled a 177, but McKendree’s six strikes and 210 topped the Cornhuskers. In the final game, the Big Red bowled a 195 and topped the Bearcats, 1,144-928, moving to 2-0 on the day.

In the third match, NU met Howard. Martin led the way again for the Big Red with four strikes as the team bowled nine strikes and scored a 248 to top Howard, 248-180. In game two, Nebraska scored a 214 to expand their total-pin advantage to 147 on the match. NU used seven consecutive strikes and 10 total in the third to top the Bison, 269-126, extending the overall match lead to 731-441. The two freshmen, Swindle and Capron, struckout in both of their frames in game four to lead the Huskers to a 223, extending the total-pin advantage to 346. The Cornhuskers closed out match three with a clean game five where Martin recorded another four strikes as the Huskers scored a 237 and defeated Howard, 1,191-798.

The Big Red played against Niagara in the fourth match of the day. The Big Red struggled to get anything going in game one and were topped by the Purple Eagles, 203-161. In game two, Nebraska tallied 10 straight strikes and scored a 279 over Niagara’s  to take the overall match lead, 440-374. The Cornhuskers used five consecutive strikes in game three to again top the Purple Eagles, 219-188, increasing their total-pin advantage to 97 going into game four. In the fourth, NU recorded six strikes and scored a 169 but were topped by Niagara’s 215. In the final game, the Big Red bowled a 222 over Niagara’s 214, topping the Purple Eagles, 1,050-991, to remain perfect going into the final match of the day.

In the fifth match of day one, the Huskers played No. 19 Merrimack. In game one, Nebraska substituted Desiree Buchert for Swindle as the team rolled a 178 over the Warriors’ 169. Nebraska recorded eight strikes in the second game as the team rolled a 227 to take a 405-346 overall match lead. In the third, Merrimack used eight strikes, including four straight, to top the Huskers, 219-195, reducing the NU’s pin advantage to 35. In game four, the Cornhuskers tallied seven strikes and scored a 224 to Merrimack’s 164, bringing the overall match lead to 824-729. In the final game of the day, the Huskers topped Merrimack, 233-196, defeating the Warriors, 1,057-925.

The Huskers return to the lanes tomorrow morning at 8:25 a.m. (CT) against University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) State in a traditional match followed by matches against Dominican, Wright State, No. 17 Mount St. Mary’s and No. 23 Felician. 
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Northeast Classic Top 10 Teams (Pinfall After First Day of Competition)
No. 3 Nebraska (5,443)
No. 8 Sam Houston (5,292)
No. 4 Youngstown State (5,288)
No. 1 Vanderbilt (5,183)
No. 5 Arkansas State (5,173)
No. 7 Wichita State (5,166)
No. 2 Jacksonville State (5,159)
Central Missouri (5,157)
No. 6 Stephen F. Austin (5,127)
No. 17 Mount St. Mary’s (5,038)