Huskers Seventh After One Day In Texas

Arlington, Texas - The third-ranked Nebraska bowling team went 2-3 in their first day of competition at the Prairie View A&M Invite, tallying a pinfall of 5,111 and finishing in seventh place.

The Huskers started Friday off against No. 4 Youngstown State in its first five-game total pinfall baker match of the morning, a rematch from the Northeast Classic championship last weekend. NU started with Desiree Buchert, Karina Capron, Kayla Verstraete, Anna Callan and Jillian Martin. The Big Red struggled in its opening game, recording only three strikes, and were topped by the Penguins, 186-159. The Cornhuskers found their footing in the second, starting the game off with six strikes as the team rolled a 230 over Youngstown State’s 193. In game three, Capron and Martin led the way for Nebraska with two strikes each as the team scored a 173, but Youngstown State’s 225 beat out the Huskers as the Penguins took the overall match lead back, 604-562. In the fourth, NU started off strong again after changing lanes with five consecutive strikes and 10 total, with four coming from Martin. The Huskers bowled a 258 and topped Youngstown State, 258-196, to take back the match lead, 820-800. Despite Youngstown State’s seven strikes in game five, behind Martin’s four strikes the Cornhuskers topped the Penguins, 212-210, to take match one of the tournament, 1,032-1,010. 

Nebraska matched up with No. 9 Maryville in match two. In the first game, each team tallied five strikes and NU rolled a 182, but were topped, 194-182. The Cornhuskers put up a 193 in game two, edging out the Saints, 193-181, bringing the match to an even 375. In game three, the Big Red rolled a 206 but Maryville’s five strikes late in the game led them over the Huskers, 232-206, to gain a 26 pin advantage over Nebraska. In the fourth, the Big Red bowled a 171 but were again topped by Maryville, 258-171, as the Saints’ increased their match lead to 865-752. In the final game, Martin delivered her fifth straight strike as the team rolled a 193 and dropped match two to Maryville, 1,051-945, in their first match loss since November 24th. 

In match three of the day, the Big Red faced off against No. 14 Duquesne. In game one, Martin had four of the Huskers’  seven strikes and the team rolled a 194 to top Duquesne, 194-172. NU started game two off with eight straight strikes and 11 total as the Cornhuskers bowled a 266 to take a 460-373 match lead. Nebraska bowled a clean game three, rolling a 198 to again top the Dukes, 198-174. In game four, the Huskers rolled a 186 over Duquesne’s 172, improving their overall match lead to 844-719 going into the final game. In the fifth, Nebraska subbed out Capron for Haley Swindle and Kayla Starr came into the match for Verstraete. The Big Red tallied eight strikes and bowled a 237 to top the Dukes’ 192, winning match three, 1,081-911.

The Cornhuskers moved onto face No. 10 North Carolina A&T in match four. Despite the Huskers tallying five strikes in a row in the middle of game one, an error in the 10th frame by Nebraska and the Aggies’ eight strikes would top NU, 225-215. The Big Red bounced back with a clean game two as the team rolled a 229 behind Martin’s four strikes as the Huskers took the match lead, 444-436. Starr and Martin led the way for Nebraska in game three as both struckout in both their frames. The team rolled a 200 with nine total strikes, but ended up falling to the Aggies, 213-200, giving North Carolina A&T a five pin lead on the match. In game four, NU bowled a 172 over the Aggies’ 159, taking back the match lead, 816-808. North Carolina A&T’s clean game five propelled the Aggies over the Huskers, 245-221, as Nebraska fell, 1,053-1,037, moving to 2-2. 

NU finished the first day of competition against No. 5 Arkansas State, the team’s fourth top-10 matchup of the day. In game one, the Huskers rolled a 201 to top the Red Wolves, 201-186. The Cornhuskers tallied six strikes in game two including four in a row as the team scored a 214 to increase their match lead to, 415-374. Despite Nebraska ending game three on four strikes, the Red Wolves topped the Big Red, 216-184, shrinking NU’s total pin advantage to just nine. In the fourth, Arkansas State bowled a 215 over Nebraska’s 200, taking the overall match lead, 805-799, going into the final game. Despite the Cornhuskers’ eight strikes in the fifth, the Red Wolves closed out Nebraska, 221-217, securing a 1,026-1,016 win for Arkansas State.

The Huskers return to the lanes tomorrow morning at 9:25 a.m. (CT) against No. 2 Jacksonville State in a traditional match followed by matches against No. 8 Sam Houston, Prairie View A&M, No. 1 Vanderbilt and Texas Southern. 

Stay up to date with the action by following the Nebraska Women's Bowling Twitter (@HuskerBowling), Instagram (@huskerbowling) and Facebook.

Prairie View A&M Invite Standings (Pinfall After First Day of Competition)
No. 2 Jacksonville State (5,467)
No. 8 Sam Houston (5,265)
No. 5 Arkansas State (5,253)
No. 1 Vanderbilt (5,247)
No. 10 North Carolina A&T (5,225)
No. 4 Youngstown State (5,115)
No. 3 Nebraska (5,111)
No. 12 Louisiana Tech (5,070)
No. 9 Maryville (5,024)
No. 14 Duquesne (4,838)
Prairie View A&M (4,538)
Texas Southern (4,321)