October 19, 2014  

SHSU Bowling Begins Title Defense With Win

Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information

The No. 3 ranked Sam Houston women’s bowling team started their defense of the NCAA Division I national championship with a tournament victory Sunday in Kenner, La.

The Bearkats posted best-of-seven Baker match victories over the other two nationally-ranked teams in the tournament field to bring home the All-State Sugar Bowl Classic championship trophy for the second time in three years. The event was hosted by Tulane University.

Unbeaten Friday and Saturday in their first nine matches, the Kats started Sunday’s bracket action with a four-game loss to No. 9 Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks prevailed 223-171, 256-212, 235-189, 257-180.

Sam Houston bounced back to defeat No. 4 Vanderbilt in six games. Trailing two games to one after winning the opening stanza 213-185 then falling to Vandy 190-184 and 246-214, their Kat hit their stride taking the next three games 183-167, 184-183 and 198-176 to advance to the tournament finals.

Winning three of the first four games, SFA appeared on its way to another victory, but Sam Houston bounced back to close out the match with wins of eight pins, 26 pins and 65 pins to hoist the trophy. The final score of the championship match was 199-169, 183-190, 181-252, 182-195, 184-176, 220-194, 245-180.

Sam Houston completed the tournament 11-1 with a team 13,278 total pin fall for an average of 198.2 per game.

Vanderbilt defeated Tulane in the third place matchup.

The Bearkats went 9-0 on the first two days of the tournament.

Friday, during quad Baker play, Sam Houston defeated Alabama State 1,053-958, Southern 1,016-774, Texas Southern 934-870, SFA 975-924 and Jackson State 972-852.

Saturday, in traditional team play, the Bearkats defeated Louisiana Tech 1,062-826, Alabama State 955-777, Florida A&M 1,033-844 and host Tulane 1,042-957J

Janine Kuwahara led the Sam Houston women in traditional team play with a 208.0 pin average Saturday. Other Bearkat pin averages were Carrie Hopkinson (206.6), Anna Groce (200.8), Stephanie Zavala (198.8) and Heather Penatzer (190.4).

Next action for the defending NCAA Division I national champions will be the Fairleigh Dickinson Jersey Jamboree in Hackensack, New Jersey, Friday, October 31 through Sunday, November 2.

About Cheval John

Cheval John is the Founder and CEO of Vallano Media, LLC, a marketing agency which helps small to mid-sized businesses use social media correctly to build a loyal following and in the process become more profitable. Cheval was the host of "What's The Word?" a podcast about finding out what inspires people to choose their respective careers and how social media impacted their lives and business He is the author of two books including the Amazon Best-Seller, "8 Lessons Every Podcaster Needs To Learn." He has spoken at Social Media Week Lima in Ohio and at Social Media Day Houston 2017 about topics around live streaming and podcasting. Cheval has been featured in media outlets including Ebony Magazine, Social Media Today and Forbes. He was named a Houston Top 25 Social Media Power Influencer (2016 and 2017) and a Twitter (Now X)Top 50 Influencer by Onalytica in 2018.

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