UMES and DSU makes NCAA 2009 National Collegiate Bowling Championship Field

A Historic First: Two MEAC teams in NCAA Women Championship Bowling Field of Eight

INDIANAPOLIS - The eight-team field competing for the 2009 National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship was announced today by the NCAA Women's Bowling Committee. The field includes the following teams, all selected at large:

Arkansas State University
University of Central Missouri
Delaware State University
Fairleigh Dickinson University
University of Maryland, Eastern Shore
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
New Jersey City University
Vanderbilt University

Competition begins with a qualifying round in which each team bowls four five-person regular team games and five four-game Baker matches. Total pinfall during the qualifying round determines each team's seed in bracket play. In the Baker format, each of the five team members, in order, bowls a complete frame until a complete (10-frame) game is bowled. The fifth Baker match serves as the position round. The pinfall from the position round serves as a tiebreaker, if necessary.

Based on the qualifying round, teams are placed in two four-team double-elimination brackets. Teams compete against each other in a best-of-seven games Baker match. Ties within a Baker game will be decided by another full Baker game. During bracket play, the higher seed receives starting lane preference for the first game of the match, the seventh game of the match and any tie-breaker game that must be played.

The Detroit Metro Sports Commission and the University of Detroit Mercy will host the championship, which will be held April 9-11 at Super Bowl Lanes in Canton, Michigan. Tickets can be purchased by calling 734/459-6070 prior to the championship.

The University of Maryland, Eastern Shore sport a 115-39 record, the second best in the country. The Lady Hawks defeated Arkansas State University, 4-2, to capture the 2008 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship at Thunder Alley in Omaha, Nebraska. The win marked Maryland-Eastern Shore's first women's bowling national championship and first NCAA national title in any sport in the institution's history. The victory also made Lady Hawks' head coach Sharon Brummell the first woman and first African-American to lead a team to the title since the NCAA established the championship in 2004.

This is DSU's first trip while UMES, Nebraska, Central Missouri and New Jersey City are all making their sixth trip. Delaware State is ranked 4th in the country and have earned a bid for the first time in the 10-year history of the team.

“This is such a thrill for the team and the university,” said Delaware State second-year head coach Kim Terrell-Kearney, who has led the Hornets to a 117-36 overall record this season. The Hornets are 25-18 this season versus the other tournament teams with wins over No. 1 Vanderbilt and No. 2 Nebraska.

For more information about the National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship, log on to http://www.ncaa.com/ .

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