ERIE, Pa. – The No. 1 seeded McKendree University women's bowling team begins its quest for a National Championship here Friday, April 9 as they face Bowie State in the first round of the Erie, Pa., Regional of the 2022 NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championships at Rolling Meadows Lanes.
 
McKendree is the No. 1 overall seed in this year's NCAA Championships and is one of four teams competing for a regional title at the Erie, Pa., Regional this weekend as joining the Bearcats and Bowie State are 11th-ranked Mount St. Mary's and Medaille. The winner of the double-elimination Erie, Pa., Regional will advance to face the winners of the other three regionals (Rochester, N.Y., Lansing, Mich., and Arlington, Texas) at the 2022 National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship final, which is scheduled for April 15-16 at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl in Columbus, Ohio.
 
"The No. 1 seed in the country is due to their hard work all season. I definitely think it gives them some confidence going into Regional play that this is what we work for all year," McKendree head coach Shannon O'Keefe said prior to Thursday's practice round. "We've talked with them in practice, it's okay to be confident, but we can't take anyone lightly because that is when you get bit in the rear."

The Bearcats, who are the two-time reigning Great Lakes Valley Conference champions in women's bowling, are making its sixth all-time appearance in the NCAA Bowling Championships this season as the Bearcats won the 2017 national championship and were national runners-up in 2018. The Bearcats are 11-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and are one of four teams in this year's field that competed in the 2021 Championships that was won by the University of Nebraska.
 
McKendree finished the regular season with an 86-25 record and they won nearly 78 percent of all its match-ups and took tournament titles at the Stormin' Blue & White Vegas Classic, the Columbia 300 Saints Invitational and the Columbia 300 Music City Classic. Additionally, the Bearcats were the runners-up at the Bearcat Hammer Open, the MOTIV Ladyjack Hammer Open, the Northeast Classic and the Big Red Invitational.

Seven Bearcats are averaging over 200 on the season, highlighted by junior Rebecca Hagerman (Loves Park, Ill./Harlem) leading the way with a 210.69 average in 48 games and totaled 10,113 pins. In addition to Hagerman, junior Maranda Pattison (Redwood Valley, Calif./Ukiah Independent) has an average of 210.49 in 41 games and 8,630 pins and senior Hope Gramly (Prosper, Texas/Propser), who repeated as the GLVC Women's Bowler of the Year, recorded an average of 208.19 in 52 games and 10,826 pins.
 
All of the matches of the Erie, Pa., Regional, with the exception of the if-necessary match, will feature a mega-match format consisting of a five-person team match, a five-game Baker total pin fall and if necessary, a best-of-seven Baker match play. The best-of-seven match play is if necessary and the winning team needs to win two of the three events in the mega-match event. The second (if necessary) championship match will feature a best-of-seven Baker format with the winning team needing to win four of those seven Baker games to claim the regional title and advance to the national championship finals.
McKendree played mega-matches during the previous two GLVC Tournaments, so that are familiar with the structure that will be used in NCAA Tournament play this year and that gives McKendree an advantage, according to O'Keefe.
 
"The majority of this group bowled mega-matches in conference the past two years and the national championships last year, so we're pretty experienced when it comes to mega-matches. I know a lot of the other conferences don't play those. They (the mega matches) are long, they take a long time, so patience is key."
 
O'Keefe said that practices leading up to the NCAA Regionals haven't been any different than they were during the regular season.
 
"We haven't approached things any different than we have the whole year. Just keep our heads down, work hard, stay present and see what happens," the McKendree coach added.
 
In addition to the Erie, Pa., Regional that features McKendree, Mount St. Mary's, Medaille and Bowie State, the other three regional sites are Rochester, NY, Lansing, Mich., and Arlington, Texas. The other seeded teams beside the Bearcats are Nebraska, who is the No. 2 seed and will compete in Rochester, while Vanderbilt is the No. 3 seed and will compete in the Lansing Regional and Sam Houston State is the No. 4 seed and will compete in in the Arlington Regional.
 
The 2022 National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championships will begin with four matches scheduled on Friday, April 8 and another two, or possibly, three matches scheduled for Saturday, April 9. All regionals are double-elimination format. All the matches in the Erie, Pa., will be streamed on-line via Mercyhurst Athletics, which is one the three hosts for the Erie, Pa., Regional Tournament.
 
Here is the schedule for the Erie, Pa., Regional:
Friday, April 8
Match 1 - #1 McKendree vs. Bowie State, 9 a.m. ET (Lanes 5-6)
Match 2 – Mount St. Mary's vs. Medaillie, 9 a.m. ET (Lanes 21-22)
Match 3 – Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2, 3:00 p.m. ET (Lanes 19-20)
Match 4 – Loser Match 1 vs. Loser Match 2, 3 p.m. ET (Lanes 7-8)
Saturday, April 9
Match 5 – Winner Match 4 vs. Loser Match 2, 9 a.m. ET (Lanes 9-10)
Match 6 (Regional Final) – Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 5, 3 p.m. ET (Lanes 7-8)
Match 7 (If Necessary) – Winner Match 6 vs. Loser Match 6, TBA
 
Here are the other teams competing in this weekend's three other Regional Tournaments.
 
Rochester Regional
#2 seed Nebraska vs. Wilmington (Del.)
Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Sacred Heart
 
Lansing Regional
#3 seed Vanderbilt vs. Alabama State
Arkansas State vs. Youngstown State
 
Arlington Regional
#4 seed Sam Houston State vs. Stephen F. Austin
Louisiana Tech vs. North Carolina A&T