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(LEBANON, Ill., April 9)—For the fourth consecutive year, McKendree University will be among the teams competing at the NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championship.
 
The Bearcats will be one of eight teams who will take the lanes beginning Thursday morning at RollHouse Wickliffe just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. McKendree will open competition against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in a match that will begin at 9 a.m. ET.
 
The 2019 NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championship will feature a double-elimination format. The tournament will also utilize the "Mega Match" competition format that was first used in the 2018 event held in St. Louis. A Mega Match is a best-of-three contest that includes the use of three team game formats – Baker total pin fall, five-person team match, and – if necessary – a best-of-seven Baker match play contest.
 
McKendree enters the 2019 NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championship as the No. 2 seed in the field. The Bearcats earned an automatic bid by winning the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championship finals for the second straight year. McKendree defeated the University of Central Missouri in the conference's title match.
 
After being ranked No. 2 in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) all-division pre-season poll, McKendree ascended to the top spot in each of the next three ratings. The Bearcats held down the No. 2 spot in the final NTCA power index rating released in mid-March, trailing only defending NCAA national champion Vanderbilt University.
 
In each of its first three trips to the NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championship, McKendree has finished as a national semifinalist or higher. After earning a top-four finish in their first trip in 2016, the Bearcats broke through to win the 2017 NCAA championship, becoming the first Division II program to capture the title. McKendree made a run to last year's national championship match before being edged by Vanderbilt in a seven-game thriller.
 
McKendree brings a 2018-19 match record of 82-34 into the NCAA championship event. The Bearcats won three in-season tournaments – the Track Kat Klash hosted by Sam Houston State University, the Warhawk Classic hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the Big Red Invitational hosted by the University of Nebraska – as well as the MIAA Championships title. In fact, McKendree placed in the top four of the final standings in each of its 10 tournaments this season.
 
Head coach Shannon O'Keefe – the three-time NTCA Division II/III National Coach of the Year – has three starters back from last year's squad that reached the NCAA finals. That group includes a trio of bowlers who have national tournament experience in senior Lauren Pate (Inver Groves Heights, MN/Simley) and juniors Breanna Clemmer (Clover, SC/Clover) and Taylor Bailey (Joliet, IL/Joliet West). Pate is second on the Bearcats' squad in traditional average at 202.95 and registered six top-20 finishes on the season, with four top-10 showings. She is a three-time, first-team All-MIAA selection for the Bearcats and earned honorable mention NTCA All-America accolades in 2017-18.
 
Clemmer leads McKendree in traditional average entering the NCAA Tournament at 211.52. The two-time NTCA Division II/III Bowler of the Year grabbed her second MIAA Player of the Year honor in three years on the strength of eight top-20 outings this season, including a quartet of top-five finishes. Clemmer was also named the NTCA's top rookie in 2016-17, and has grabbed first-team All-America honors in each of the previous two seasons.
 
Bailey currently ranks fourth among McKendree's regular starters in traditional average at 201.56. She has finished in the top 20 during tournament play seven times in 2018-19 with two top-10 placements. Last month, Bailey grabbed first-team All-MIAA honors for the third consecutive year.
 
Freshman Hope Gramly (Prosper, TX/Prosper) has made quite an impact on the Bearcats' lineup in her first season with the program. Gramly finished third on the squad in traditional average this season at 202.71 and has earned five top-20 finishes that includes a pair of top-fives. For her efforts, Gramly was named the MIAA Freshman of the Year last month along with first-team All-Conference honors.
 
Other key contributors throughout the 2018-19 season for McKendree include seniors Ashley Dunn (Palmdale, CA/Quartz Hill) and Ashley Hathaway (Lewisville, TX/The Colony), junior Shannon Grimm (Fenton, MO/Rockwood Summit) and sophomore Britaney Myers (Mechanicsville, NY/Stillwater). Senior Christie Draper (McKinney, TX/McKinney Boyd) and sophomore Lauren Hays (Salem, IL/Salem) round out the Bearcats' squad heading into the NCAA Tournament.
 
Match play will continue through Saturday morning until the two finalists are determined. The championship match for the 2019 NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championship will take place on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPNU.