ARLINGTON, Texas—The top overall seed in the NCAA Bowling Championship flexed its muscles with a dominating performance in the Arlington Regional final.
 
The Gamecocks won the traditional portion of the Mega Match 1,226-962 and the Baker portion 1,075-903 to sweep the tournament and make a return trip to the Final Four in just its second season of competition.
 
"I kind of let the girls do their own thing, but whatever they came up with, they clicked and they were with each other," said coach Shannon O'Keefe. "I think Anna (Warkel) looked up at the score one time and they yelled at her for it."
 
Jax State had strikes on eight of its first 10 rolls to take a 39-pin lead into the third frame of traditional play and also went five-for-five on strikes in the fourth, sixth, and eighth.
 
Erin Klemencic was perfect until her second ball of the 10^th when she was left with a 7-10 split and finished with a team-best 286.
 
"I feel like it definitely helps to experience this format being a freshman to see how everything goes, but once we get to the Final Four, we have to reset," said Klemencic.
 
Dannielle Henderson opened with a double, then picked up a single pin spare in the third, and rattled off seven straight strikes after to total a 264.
 
Anna Warkel doubled in the fourth and went on to finish with a 236. Emma Yoder was perfect through four and picked up a single-pin spare in the fifth and closed with a 228.
 
Annalise OBryant closed with five consecutive strikes for a 212.
 
"Regardless of what happened, we were always trying different things," said OBryant. "We trusted the coaches and their moves, so we trusted our games to align with that and make the best shots we could."
 
Jax State opened Baker play on the right lane and dialed in seven strikes in a 215-167 win. SFA led the second of the five Baker games by four in the sixth but the Gamecocks tied it at 163 in the eighth. The LadyJacks left the ninth open and Jax Stat capitalized for a 202-191 win to push the advantage to 59.
 
In the third, SFA left two frames open and the Gamecocks racked up eight strikes, going perfect once through the lineup for a 245-190 win to push the overall advantage to 114. Three more open frames by the LadyJacks after holding a 123-115 lead in the sixth allowed Jax State to again increase its lead with a 213-178 win.
 
Five more strikes in the fifth game helped Jax State close with a 200-177 win.
 
"It's easy to get really comfortable and repeat when you see your bowling ball doing the right things," said O'Keefe.
 
Jax State will face Wichita State in its first match of the championship round next week at the Suncoast Bowling Center in Las Vegas.