ARLINGTON, Texas – The No. 2 ranked McKendree University women's bowling team opened the 11th-Annual Prairie View A&M Invitational here Friday by winning three of its five Baker matches to put the Bearcats in sixth place in the 12-team field that features 11 nationally-ranked teams at the International Training and Research Center (IRTC) Arlington.
McKendree is just 256 pins behind first day leader Louisiana Tech. In fact, the top nine teams after the first day of action at the event hosted by Prairie View A&M University are separated by a total of 358 pins.
The Bearcats recorded a total of 5,013 pins as they averaged 200.5 per game and recorded over 1,000 pins in two of the five games.
McKendree won its three matches by a combined 112 points and lost its two matches by a total of 137 pins.
The Bearcats opened the day by posting a win over No. 6 North Carolina A&T (976-915), before earning a 38 pin win over eighth-ranked Youngstown State (1,118-1,080). Tulane, who is ranked 13th, would give McKendree its first loss of the day as the Green Wave defeated the Bearcats by 85 pins (1,027-942).
Following the loss to Tulane, the Bearcats suffered a 52 pin loss in its fourth game to No. 3 ranked Nebraska (1,101-1,049), before rebounding with a 13 pin win over 19th-ranked Sacred Heart (928-915).
The Bearcats will return to action on Saturday by playing five traditional games as they face 15th-ranked Fairleigh-Dickinson, seventh-ranked Louisiana Tech, No. 5 ranked Vanderbilt, No. 1 ranked Sam Houston and concludes the second day with a match against Prairie View A&M.
On Sunday, the teams will all play one more traditional game on Sunday as the Bearcats will face sixth-ranked Arkansas State, before the two-round best-of-seven Baker format bracket play.
Here are the standings following the first day of the Prairie View A&M Invitational (record and total pinfall):
No. 7 Louisiana Tech – 4-1 (5,269 pins / 210.8 avg.)
No. 3 University of Nebraska – 4-1 (5,194 pins / 207.8 avg.)
No. 6 Arkansas State – 4-1 (5,143 pins / 205.7 avg.)
#5 Vanderbilt – 3-2 (5,131 pins / 205.2 avg.)
#1 Sam Houston – 4-1 (5,035 pins / 201.4 avg.)
#2 McKendree – 3-2 (5,013 pins / 200.5 avg.)
#4 North Carolina A&T – 1-4 (4,989 / 199.6 avg.)
#8 Youngstown State – 0-5 (4,979 / 199.2 avg.)
#15 Fairleigh Dickinson – 3-2 (4,911 / 196.4 avg.)
#13 Tulane – 3-2 (4,789 / 191.6 avg.)
Prairie View University – 1-4 (4,556 / 182.2 avg.)
#19 Sacred Heart – 0-5 (4,483 / 179.3 avg.)
