2017-18 Southland Bowling Season Gets Underway This Weekend
Southland Bowling League
FRISCO, Texas – Southland Bowling League action for the 2017-18 season begins this weekend when five of eight league teams head to AMF All Star Lanes in Kenner, La., for the Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Bowling Invitational, hosted by member school Tulane. The 15-team competition takes place from Friday, Oct. 20 through Sunday, Oct. 22 and will also feature Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin and Valparaiso from the Southland Bowling ranks.
Arkansas State, Monmouth, and Vanderbilt begin their seasons the following weekend at the Brunswick Bearcat Open, hosted by defending national champion McKendree in Fairview Heights, Ill. Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin and Valparaiso will also compete at this event.
Southland teams will meet in multiple regular season competitions this season, including four tournaments after this weekend which are hosted by league teams. Sam Houston State again hosts the Track Kat Klash in Houston from Friday, Nov. 3 to Sunday, Nov. 5. Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Stephen F. Austin, Tulane and Vanderbilt will also take part.
All eight league teams will feature in Arkansas State’s Mid-Winter Invitational to start 2018, heading to Jonesboro, Ark., from Friday, Jan. 12 to Sunday, Jan. 14. Nebraska won last season’s Mid-Winter tournament with McKendree finishing as runner-up and Vanderbilt in third place. A-State’s Jordan Richard was named Tournament MVP while teammate and sister Haley Richard was named to the all-tournament team along with SFA’s Stephanie Schwartz.
Stephen F. Austin hosts the SFA Stormin’ Ladyjack Invitational from Friday, Feb. 16 to Sunday, Feb. 18 at Copperfield Bowl in Houston, in which seven Southland teams will compete. Three league teams logged top-five finishes in the 23-team tournament – Sam Houston State finished third, Stephen F. Austin fourth and Arkansas State took fifth place.
Two Southland teams will host tournaments in March – the Monmouth Hawk Flight Invite in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., and Vanderbilt’s Columbia 300 Music City Classic in Smyrna, Tenn.
The Hawk Flight Invite will take place from Friday, March 2 to Sunday, March 4 and the Music City Classic from Friday, March 16 to Sunday, March 18.
In 2017 - for the third consecutive year - the Southland Bowling League made up half of the NCAA Bowling Championship field, featuring Arkansas State, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin and Southland tournament champion Vanderbilt. The Red Wolves have racked up 10-straight NCAA appearances while the Bearkats took part in their sixth NCAA Tournament in seven years last season.
The Commodores earned their 12th consecutive and overall trip to the NCAA postseason in 2017, a Southland-best and third in the country only to Central Missouri (13) and Nebraska (14). They finished third last season, falling to eventual national runner-up Nebraska in round five.
The 2018 Southland Bowling League Tournament, previously held at Hijinx Lanes in Jonesboro, Ark., will be held at a date and site to be determined.
Visit
southland.org/bowling for all team schedule links and information and follow
@SouthlandBowl on Twitter for news and updates throughout the season.