NU Finishes Fifth in Orlando

Orlando, Fla. - On the final day of Destination Orlando, the No. 2 Nebraska bowling team finished with a 9-4 record, a 13,487 total pinfall, and 198.33 average, ending in fifth place overall. 

Match one was different than what was expected from the night before, as instead of the previously announced traditional match to start plus three best 4-of-7 baker matches, NU would instead play No. 21 Valparaiso in a five-game total pinfall baker match to determine seeding for the following two 4-of-7 baker matches. Starters for the Big Red were Lani Breedlove, Haley Swindle, Kayla Starr, Abigail Starkey, and Jillian Martin. They would have no trouble with Valparaiso, sweeping the Beacons in a 1060-847 match victory where the closest game ended 179-167. 

After a delay to determine seeding, bracket play began, pitting the Huskers against No. 7 North Carolina A&T. NU got off to a hot start in game one before back-to-back open frames off of splits killed their momentum, allowing NCAT to claim game one 217-182. The Huskers didn’t let the early loss deter them, though, as they would take game two by a score of 244-187 led by a combined triple in the 10th from Martin and Brenna Hartzler, who would check in as a fresh arm to make the third strike. NCAT bounced back in game three, winning 210-178 to take a 2-1 match lead. Hartzler would check in for Starr in game four, helping the Huskers finish the last five frames with six strikes, evening the series to 2-2 with a 245-215 victory. Game five saw another Nebraska win as four open frames from NCAT allowed the Huskers to claim a 200-161 win and a 3-2 lead with one win to go. In the decisive game six, eight strikes by the Huskers would propel them past the Aggies 235-193, taking the match 4-2 and moving on to play for fifth place. 

The third match of the day had Nebraska face off against the hosts of the tournament, No. 11 Sacred Heart. In game one, the Huskers got off to another slow start with back-to-back open frames, but recovered quickly, striking four straight and six total on their way to a clean eight frames and a 202-188 win to take a 1-0 match lead. NU would carry that momentum into game two, winning 208-179 to increase the match deficit to 2-0. Sacred Heart would battle back, though, taking both game three (182-174) and four (185-174) to even the series up at 2-2. Despite finishing game five with only one open frame, the Huskers lost by a slim margin as Sacred Heart would strike a triple in the 10th to win 194-190 and take a 3-2 match lead. In game six, more open frames seemingly spelled the end for the Huskers, but a clutch four-strike 9th and 10th frame courtesy of Starkey and Martin helped propel NU past Sacred Heart 201-199 to force game seven. In that final game, Sacred Heart got off to a hot start, striking five straight and a spare before three straight open frames torpedoed their momentum, allowing the Big Red to capitalize with seven clean frames, including six strikes, to claim a 210-203 win and claim the series 4-3. 

Jillian Martin was the lone Husker to come home with hardware, being named to the All-Tournament Team, her second-straight week earning those honors. She finished the weekend with a 1,105 total pinfall and a 221.0 pinfall average. 

Nebraska will be on the road again, Nov. 7-9, in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Bulldog Classic hosted by No. 9 Louisiana Tech at Cityview Lanes. 

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