BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Coming off the program's first trip to the USBC National Championships and entering its first season as members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), head coach Michelle Crews has announced the UAB bowling team's schedule for the upcoming 2018-19 season.The team is set to travel to 11 different states during the year, including trips to Dover, Delaware (Nov. 10-11), and Greensboro, North Carolina (Feb. 23-24), for head-to-head conference matchups.
"With the addition of our conference meets this season, we had to make some adjustments to our schedule to allow us to remain within our maximum of 32 dates of competition," head coach Michelle Crews said. "We are excited to return to some of our favorite events, while adding a few new ones to the mix. We are defending champions at the Hornet Classic, so we look forward to be able to return to Montgomery and try to defend our title."
UAB 2018-19 WOMEN'S BOWLING SCHEDULE
UAB's season commences with a trip to Kenner, Louisiana, on Oct. 19 for the Allstate Sugarbowl hosted by Tulane. From there, the team continues its westward journey to Houston, Texas, for the Kat Klash from Nov. 2-4.
On Nov. 16-18, the Blazers finish the fall semester by looking to repeat as champions at the Alabama State Hornet Classic in Montgomery.
After the Holiday break, the Blazers return for the Mid-Winter Invitational at Arkansas State before taking their talents to the Kutztown Invitational (Jan. 18-20) and the Sunshine State Winter Classic (Feb. 8-10).
USBC Sectionals will be held on March 8-9 before UAB concludes their regular season at the Columbia 300 Music City Classic in Smyrna, Tenn hosted by Vanderbilt. UAB wraps up its historic season when it competes in its first-ever MEAC Championship on March 29-31 in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Both the NCAA Championships (April 11-13) and USBC Nationals (April 17-20) will be held in the state of Ohio to close out the year, with competition occurring in Cleveland and Dayton, respectively.
Finishing their 2017-18 season as the No. 16 team in the country, the Blazers posted a 60-41 record with two top-five finishes. The Blazers capped off the year with a trip to the USBC Intercollegiate Team National Championship for the first time in program history.
The Green and Gold returns 11 players while adding three freshman to this year's squad.
For more information on the UAB bowling team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_Bowl) or like them on Facebook (Facebook.com/UABBowling2011).
Russell Named to the Preseason All-MEAC Bowling Team
Russell, who became UAB's first NTCA All-American last season, is the first Blazer to earn any sort of conference honor.
"I am so proud of Taylor for being named to the Preseason All-Conference Team," head coach Michelle Crewssaid. "The Preseason All-Conference award is heavily based on last year's performance and Taylor had a groundbreaking year individually, as she was an Honorable Mention All-American, our first in program history. She has been working so hard already this season to make her performance even stronger."
Along with the preseason honor for Russell, league voters projected that the Blazers will finish in fourth place in its inaugural season.
"We are very excited for our first preseason MEAC ranking day," Crews said. "Our goal this year in the MEAC is to be competitive with the existing teams and pushing ourselves not only to get to the conference championship, but to make it to the championship finals television show. Joining the MEAC this season gives us two opportunities to get to the NCAA Championship through the normal at-large pick based on our ranking, but now if we win the conference we would get this automatic qualifier to the National Championship."
Russell was the Blazers' most prolific player last season, leading the team with a 205.38 average over 40 matches and bowling over 200 23 times during the 2017-18 campaign. Her season average and total pinfall of 8,215 ranked 17th in the nation at the end of the season.
Her top score came against McKendree at the Mid-Winter Classic hosted by Arkansas State, when she toppled an impressive 259 pins.
The Tupelo, Miss., native also took home two All-Tournament honors and claimed the individual title at the Hornet Classic, where she helped guide the team to a first place finish of its own. She finished the historic season with three top-5 finishes.
For her efforts, Russell became the first Blazer in program history to garner National Tenpin Coaches Associate (NTCA) Honorable Mention All-America honors.
The program finished 16th in the NTCA final rankings before making its first-ever USBC Intercollegiate Team National Championship in Lincoln, Nebraska.
UAB returns its entire squad from the historic 2017-18 season and adds three newcomers for the upcoming campaign. The Blazers also look forward to their first season as members of the MEAC.
"As the season goes on, I truly believe our MEAC peers will be surprised at the depth of talent we have on our team and I look forward to seeing how many players we have on the All-Conference Team by the end of the year," Crews said. "Once again, by joining the MEAC, this adds another wonderful opportunity for our players to be recognized by our peers in areas such as Player of the Week, Rookie of the Week, etc. This is an amazing opportunity the MEAC has given to us to enhance the student-athlete experience."For more information on the UAB bowling team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_Bowl) or like them on Facebook (Facebook.com/UABBowling2011).
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA- BIRMINGHAM ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
