Southland Bowling League Championship Kicks Off on Friday
Southland Bowling League
2017 Championship Central • 2017 Season-to-date Statistics (through March 1)
NCAA RPI Rankings (March 21)
• InsideBowling.com (Live Stream)
BRACKET
JONESBORO, Ark. – The 2017 Southland Bowling League Championship gets underway this week in Jonesboro, Ark. Hijinx Lanes will play host to all eight Southland teams competing for this year’s title and a chance to land a spot in the NCAA Bowling Tournament in Baton Rouge, La. The 2017 championship will be live streamed at
InsideBowling.com.
Action begins on Friday at 8 a.m. with the opening four matches, followed by the second round at 1 p.m. for the opening match winners. The first round of the consolation bracket for the opening round losing teams will also take place at this time.
The SBL Championship will be an eight-team, double-elimination tournament, using a best of three match format:
Match 1: Five-person team match
Match 2: Baker Total Pinfall
Match 3: Baker Best of Seven Match play
(If teams split first two matches)
Arkansas State, this year’s top seed, is eyeing their second-straight tournament title. The Red Wolves mounted an unlikely comeback in 2016, losing to No. 3 Sam Houston State in the semifinals before defeating second-seeded Vanderbilt in the consolation bracket to return to the championship match and down the Bearkats with a 4-0 sweep.
Arkansas State, ranked No. 3 in the March NTCA Poll, has posted the top overall team scoring average through 2016-17 and returns 2016 NTCA All-American Jordan Richard – the league’s top individual performer on the season. The Red Wolves enter this year’s tournament with momentum on their side, finishing the regular season with a first-place finish at Nebraska’s Big Red Invite followed by a runner-up finish at the Music City Classic, finishing second to nationally top-ranked McKendree University. They also notched a top team finish at the Warhawk Classic in Kenosha, Wisc. In Nov. 2016.
The 2014 national champion Bearkats come into the 2017 Southland Championship at No. 2. As a three-seed in 2016, Sam Houston State ran through victories over No. 6 Tulane, No. 2 Vanderbilt and No. 1 Arkansas State before falling to the Red Wolves in their championship return match. The nationally fourth-ranked Bearkats have racked up four team wins this season at the Midstates Invitational, Wildcat Invitational, KAT Klash and UMES Hawk Classic. The Bearkats ranked third in the league entering March with a team scoring average of 19.606, led by junior Heather Penatzer. The Tucscon, Ariz. native ranked fifth in the Southland with a 20.443 overall scoring average. They will face No. 8 Louisiana Tech in Match 1.
Vanderbilt, the league’s second-best scoring team, enters the tournament as a No. 3 seed. The Commodores rank fifth in the country and are no strangers to the national stage, finishing as NCAA Championship runners-up in 2013 and 2011, adding a national title in 2007. Vanderbilt entered March ranking just behind Arkansas State in overall team scoring average (19.991). The Commodores are led by freshman Maria Bulanova, who averaged 21.367 through 981 frames. The Red Wolves and Vanderbilt both ranked three bowlers in the top 15 for individual scoring average. The Commodores won the inaugural Southland Bowling Championship in 2015. They will face No. 6 Tulane in Match 3.
The defending national champions from Stephen F. Austin return as the No. 4 in this year’s championship, led by junior and reigning NTCA Player of the Year Stephanie Schwartz. The Racine, Wis. native ranked third in the league entering March with a 21.037 through a league-high 1,102 frames bowled. After falling to Vanderbilt in the 2016 Southland Championship, the Ladyjacks earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship and defeated perennial powerhouse Nebraska 4-3 to earn SFA the school’s first Division I team national championship. SFA ranks seventh nationally and will take on No. 5 Monmouth in Match 2.
No. 5 Monmouth is led by junior Jackie Evans and senior Kaitlyn Reth. Evans ranked sixth in the league entering March with a 20.349 overall scoring average while Reth sat at ninth with a 20.169. As a seven-seed in 2015 and five-seed in 2016, the Hawks bowed out of the Southland championship both years in the second round of the consolation bracket. Monmouth ranks 12
th in the nation in the NTCA March poll and will take on No. 4 Stephen F. Austin in Match 2.
Tulane is entering this year’s championship as a six-seed for the third consecutive year. The Green Wave notched first-place team finishes at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Invitational in December and the Jackson State Invitational in November. The nationally 14
th-ranked team is led by Singaporean junior Michelle Ng, who ranked eighth in the Southland with a 20.215 individual scoring average. Tulane ranked fifth entering March with an 18.809 overall scoring average through 5,545 frames. The Green Wave ended their championships in 2015 and 2016 in the first round of the consolation bracket. Tulane will clash with No. 3 Vanderbilt in Match 3.
No. 7 Valparaiso ranks accordingly in team scoring average (17.823), led by fifth-year senior and Vanderbilt transfer Olivia Wirtz (19.774). The nationally ranked No. 25 Crusaders were eliminated in the first match of the consolation bracket in the last two Southland championships and will face No. 2 Sam Houston State in Match 4.
No. 8 Louisiana Tech posted three top-five team finishes in 2016-17. The Lady Techsters took third at the Jackson State Invitational in their second competition of the fall, followed by a fourth-place finish at Alabama State’s Hornet Classic. Tech finished fourth at the Florida A&M Rattler Invitational to start 2017. The Lady Techsters enter this year’s championship as the No. 8 seed for the third-straight year and will be looking to improve upon consecutive first-round exits in 2015 and 2016. They will face No. 1 Arkansas State in Match 1.
The NCAA currently does not take automatic bids from its bowling conferences. The NCAA Bowling Committee chooses eight at-large selections. Tulane University will host the 2017 NCAA Bowling Championship, which will take place on April 13-15 at the River Center in Baton Rouge, La.