Huskers Look to Close Perfect Fall Season This Weekend

Lincoln -- The Nebraska bowling team looks to close a perfect fall campaign this weekend, as the Huskers travel to St. Louis for the National Team Match Games. The tournament takes place on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28-29, and starts at 8 a.m. each morning.

The tournament, considered the premier event of the fall schedule, will likely provide the Huskers their toughest test of the season, as many of the major NCAA programs will compete against each other, as well as many of the top club programs from around the nation.

"This field will be better than the fields we see all year because not only will the NCAA programs be represented, but many of the club programs that would be among the top 10 NCAA teams, such as Wichita State, West Texas A&M and Morehead State, if they were affiliated with the NCAA, are also competing," Nebraska Coach Bill Straub said. "It will give us a good test of where we are at this point in time."

According to Straub, the results of this weekend’s tournament will help shape the first set of national rankings, which will be released in early December.

"For the bowling media, this is the main tournament of the fall because so many of the national contenders are competing," Straub said.

The Huskers have enjoyed one of their finest falls in school history, winning all three tournaments by convincing margins, while Shannon Pluhowsky and Amanda Burgoye have swept all three tournament titles. With a tournament win this weekend, the 2003-04 Huskers can also become the first team in school history to win their first four tournaments. Nebraska, which placed ninth at last year’s tournament, has won the National Team Match Games on two occasions, most recently in 2001.

Following this weekend’s competition, the Huskers will be off until mid-January when they compete in the Southern Varsity Invitational in Baton Rouge. Nebraska was originally scheduled to compete in a tournament in Tallahassee, Fla., next weekend, but the event was cancelled, giving the Huskers another week to train and focus on academics.

"The time off will help our freshmen prepare for the end of the fall semester and their upcoming finals," Straub said. "The other bowlers are used to the rigors that come at the end of semesters, and we want to give the freshmen a good start on their academic careers."

Last Tournament: Burgoyne Leads Huskers to Tournament Crown
The Huskers continued their early-season dominance, winning the Women’s Triad Classic on Nov. 15-16. The Huskers finished with a total pinfall of 5,463, easily defeating the four other NCAA teams that competed in the two-day tournament. Fairleigh Dickinson was second with 5,238, while defending Intercollegiate Bowling Champion Central Missouri State placed third with a pinfall of 5,158. New Jersey City University (5,108) and Sacred Heart (4,868) rounded out the field.

Freshman Amanda Burgoyne won her first collegiate title with an average of 235 over 10 games. It marked the first time a Husker freshman won an individual tournament title since Shannon Pluhowsky and Suzanne Medwell each won tournaments during the 2000-01 season. Burgoyne was one of three Huskers chosen for the all-tournament team, as sophomore Jamie Martin equaled her career-high finish, placing third with a 227 average, while junior Shannon Pluhowsky was fourth with a 224 average.