ARLINGTON, Texas – The Jacksonville State Bowling Team continued its improbable run to open its inaugural season on Sunday, bouncing back to claim its fifth-straight tournament title at the Prairie View A&M Invitational.
On a day that started with Jax State's first loss since Jan. 8, the end result was one the top-ranked Gamecocks (67-10) have become accustomed to. For the fifth-straight time and fifth time in only six tournaments, the first-year program found itself holding the championship trophy at the end of a tournament.
This time it was over a stacked field at the International Training and Research Center, a 12-team event that featured 10 of the Top 12 teams in the NTCA Top 25 Poll. The Gamecocks beat them all in the event, with the last avenging a Sunday morning loss to No. Arkansas State.
Fifth-year seniors
Rebecca Hagerman and
Crystal Elliott rolled their way onto the All-Tournament Team, leading a solid weekend from several individuals in a Gamecock uniform.
The Wolves ended Jax State's program-record 28-match win streak with a 1,114-1,072 win over the Gamecocks in the tournament's final traditional match. The Gamecocks then earned a hard-fought 4-3 win over No. 7 Nebraska in the semifinals of the tournament's bracket to set up the rematch for the title.
Jax State left no doubt as to why they hold the top spot in the rankings just six events into its first season as the NCAA's youngest program. The Gamecocks flirted with a perfect score in the first game of the best-of-seven title match, coming just two strikes away and rolling a 284 to set the stage for a 4-0 sweep of ASU.
The lineup of
Isabel Allen,
Maranda Pattison,
Kayla Smith,
Rebecca Hagerman and
Crystal Elliott rolled strikes on the first nine frames of that first game and Elliott started the 10
th frame with a strike, but a split on her second ball ended the push for a 300.
That first game was never in question, but the next three matches were a different story. The Gamecocks had to come from behind a few times, edging the Wolves 183-179 in the second game and 198-190 in the third. The fourth and deciding game saw a late surge by Jax State to seal the tournament title with a 234-203 win.
The semifinal match against Nebraska may have been the best match of the tournament, with Jax State and the Huskers going back-and-forth to see who would face ASU in the championship.
Nebraska jumped to an early lead with a 223-219 win in the opening game, only to watch the Gamecocks answer with convincing wins in the next two to take a 2-1 lead. They won the second game 196-163 and then cruised to a 239-169 win in the third game.
The Huskers and Gamecocks would exchange wins the rest of the way, with a two-pin win by Nebraska in the sixth to force a winner-take-all game seven.
The Gamecocks rose to the occasion, especially late in the seventh game, to put Nebraska away with a 202-190 score and advance to their sixth title match in six tournaments this season.
The Gamecocks will now take a week off to prepare for their next event – Arkansas State's Mid-Winter Invitational from Feb. 16-18 at the Jonesboro Bowling Center in Jonesboro, Ark.
