GREENSBORO, N.C. (February 26, 2022) – The Mount bowling program found a bright spot at the end of a very up and down day, defeating #2 Sam Houston State for the highest ranked victory in program history. The lone victory came after four defeats to four ranked teams prior. The team fell to fifth by a mere 19-pins behind third and 17-pins behind fourth over the course of 50 games of qualifying.
Senior
Rebecca Dodson led the way for the Mount with a 1,005 five game total (201.0 average.) Junior
Amanda Yeung went 776 over four games (194.0 average) and senior
Barbara Hawes went 769 over four games (192.25 average.) Senior
Danielle Milo came off the bench in the final match and provided a much needed 238 game.
#10 Mount: 1,024 | #6 North Carolina A&T: 1,079
The Mount improved their opening round score by over 102 pins from yesterday but caught a red hot NCAT team to begin competition Saturday. Dodson led the charge with a 248 game. Hawes contributed with a solid 208.
#10 Mount: 893 | #14 Delaware State: 1,016
The Hornets of Del State got off to a hot start, going onto to bury the Mount by close to 200 pins halfway in. A plethora of strikes, however, in frames six thru eight got the Mountaineers within 60 with two frames to go before DSU closed the door in frames nine and ten.
#10 Mount: 1,051 | #16 MD Eastern Shore: 1,088
What seemed like a huge lead and for sure win quickly turned the other way as Maryland Eastern Shore came out of nowhere in the final four frames to erase a near 100-pin deficit and toss their only score of the week that would beat a 1051 from MSM. All but two of the final 20 shots for Eastern Shore struck, giving the Mount a loss in their best set of the day. Yeung led the way with a 245 game.
#10 Mount: 883 | #22 Lincoln Memorial: 914
Another close loss saw the Mountaineers on the wrong side of things, missing 10 makeable spares in a narrow 31-pin defeat that came down to the final frame. Dodson went for 200.
#10 Mount: 935 | #2 Sam Houston: 840
The Mount put together their best performance of the day on what was arguably the toughest pair they had seen all weekend, out executing the #2 Bearkats to end the day on a high note with the highest ranked victory in program history. Milo's 238 was huge in the upset.
"Today was like watching every possible way to lose a match," said head coach
Kenneth DeGraaf. "In match one, it was us bowling good but running into a buzz-saw in NCAT. In match two, we lost by carrying over the emotions from match one into match two and creating a deficit too great to overcome. Match three we bowl amazing, cleaned every makeable spare, and lost to a team that look lost and then went 18 out of 20 strikes with a carry after carry. We have won like that before, so we know it evens out, but it was still a tough loss to swallow. Match four we lost on 10 missed makeable spares. That is 100 free pins we gave away in a match we lost by 30. Sometimes you cannot point to any one person costing the team, but just need to change things for the sake of changing things. Towards the end of match four we subbed three in and three out and those bench players came in with a purpose. They almost helped us complete a comeback against LMU and got us a marquee win for our program defeating #2 in the nation. I hope we can carry that momentum into tomorrow. I think we need a strong day to gain some momentum into the final NEC meet of the season."
The Mount currently sits fifth with the opportunity to climb as high as third and earn a trophy finish in a talented field. They will open competition against NEC foe Fairleigh Dickinson. Competition begins at 8:30 a.m. ET.
