Bowling placed fourth out of six teams and posted a record of 2-2 at their first ever Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship at AMF Chesapeake Lanes in Chesapeake, VA last weekend.
“We made a run in the bracket, but fell short on our frame closing in the Delaware State match,” said Director of Bowling Karen Grygiel. “Overall, we finished the season on a high note and I’m very proud of the fight our team showed through the end of the season.”
The MEAC Championship is a double-elimination style tournament that operates on a best of three Mega Match format.
Monmouth kicked off the weekend with a 2-1 win over the No. 14 University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) on Friday morning.
The Hawks opened up the match with a 918-880 win in the traditional team game. Freshman Skylar Smith bowled a 225 in the victory, which was the highest pin total for an individual on the team and the second-best total amongst the entire tournament. It was also Smith’s second 200-plus pin game of the season.
UAB responded with a win in the Baker total pinfall game, 948-912. Then, with the Baker best-of-seven game tied at 3-3, Monmouth hit two strikes at the end of the seventh to snatch the victory.
Monmouth found it harder in their matchup with No. 11 North Carolina A&T later in the afternoon, where they fell 0-2. The Aggies closely edged the Hawks in traditional format by just five pins with a final score of 1008-1003. North Carolina A&T won by over 100 pins in Baker format, beating Monmouth 979-863. Senior Brittany Fitzpatrick bowled a career-high 209 for the Hawks in the series with the Aggies.
In the traditional team game to open the series with Howard on Saturday, sophomore Camelia Coffman and junior Kyla Day both hit the 200-pin mark as Monmouth won 909-830. Howard bounced back and won the Baker format match, 914-884, but the Hawks were ultimately victorious after winning the best-of-seven series 4-2.
Monmouth’s run would eventually come to an end at the hands of No. 13 Delaware State, who opened the matchup by taking the traditional team round 863-849. The Hawks stayed alive with a 963-845 win in Baker format, but Delaware State won the best-of-seven round 4-1 to close the page on what was a successful year for the Monmouth Bowling program.
Senior Haley Solberg finished as the team leader in 200-plus pin games with 17.
In their first season as a member of the MEAC, the Hawks registered 12 victories over teams ranked in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) top ten. Monmouth themselves were ranked during the season as they were listed at No. 22 in the February NTCA poll.
The Hawks held a positive record of 51-47 on the season.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
