Huskers Finish in Seventh at Bulldog Classic

Fort Worth, Tex. - The No. 2 ranked Nebraska bowling team wrapped up the Bulldog Classic on Sunday, finishing in seventh place with a record of 8-5, a pinfall of 10,196 and a 203.9 average. Going into the day, the Huskers were seeded sixth in the bracket with a chance to rise all the way up to third. 

Standing in NU’s way for match one of the three best 4-of-7 baker matches was No. 3 Vanderbilt, which they had lost to on day one of the tournament. The Huskers would start Lani Breedlove, Abigail Starkey, Karina Capron, Haley Swindle, and Jillian Martin. In game one, the Husker lineup would throw well, striking six, including three straight starting in the 3rd as well as a combined triple from Martin and Brenna Hartzler in the 10th, but three open frames would slow the Big Red’s momentum as the Commodores would bowl a clean game and take the opener 201-192. To start game two, Hartzler would sub in for Breedlove, and Kayla Starr would replace Starkey. Nebraska started the game hot, but costly open frames allowed Vanderbilt to come back and take a 2-0 lead with a 193-181 victory. In game three, Swindle and Capron swapped spots in the lineup, and finally the Huskers hit their stride, striking seven en route to a 219-169 dominant win, taking the momentum back. Breedlove would sub back in for Starr in game four, but this one was a similar story to the first two, as even a triple from Martin in the tenth was not enough to boost NU past the Commodores, with Vanderbilt taking a 3-1 lead in a 180-157 win. With the match on the line, the Huskers battled back in game five with a 221-184 showing, making the series 3-2 in Vanderbilt’s favor. The Big Red was unable to maintain the momentum into game six, as Vanderbilt won 203-161 and took the series 4-2.  

After losing to Vanderbilt, NU would be playing for fifth place at best, with their next opponent being hosts No. 9 Louisiana Tech, who were coming off a win against No. 8 Sam Houston. In game one, Nebraska got off to a rough start, but the Bulldogs’ momentum wasn’t enough to get the win as the Big Red would recover and rocket back to take game one 215-203. In game two, Tech would have an even better start, striking six out of the first seven frames, but the Huskers would battle back to tie the game 234-234 and take a half game to make the series 1.5-0.5 in the Huskers' favor. In game three, Buchert would check in for the tenth frame, while Louisiana Tech would capitalize on Husker open frames and would take the game 235-179, evening the series 1.5-1.5. Game four saw both teams bowl clean through the 7th, but four successive strikes from the Bulldogs allowed them to claim the advantage and eventually take the game 236-204, taking the lead 2.5-1.5. In game five, LA Tech had their best start yet, striking six straight on the way to winning 230-203 and increasing their match lead to 3.5-1.5. The Huskers surged back in game six, striking the first five frames and nine total – including four from Martin – to take the game 236-157 to make the series 3.5-2.5 in Louisiana Tech’s favor. Needing to win game seven to force a roll-off, NU bowled clean through the 7th frame, before an open frame derailed their momentum and allowed Tech to capitalize and take the series with a 216-204 win, leaving the Huskers 0-2 on the day and 7-5 overall. 

The last match of the day would pit the Huskers against the No. 19 Tulane Green Wave, in a match to determine seventh and eighth place. Nebraska would elect to check in Buchert for Hartzler at the start of the match, and in game one, she led off with a strike as the Huskers would end up bowling a clean game in a 205-191 victory. Game two would be even better as the Big Red would shoot yet another clean game, taking a 2-0 series lead with a 269-215 victory. The Huskers would keep their momentum into game three, winning 224-191 and broadening their lead to 3-0. NU would just miss out on the sweep in game four as a triple from Tulane in the 10th would put them on top 194-193, making the series 3-1. The Green Wave would keep their momentum into game five and take it 211-184, making it 3-2 and forcing a game six. Tulane would win again, 200-197, in that game, sending the match to a seventh game. In that game, a slow start from Nebraska made it seem like Tulane would come all the way back from being down 3-0, but adjustments in the back five helped the Huskers secure the victory 188-164, taking the match 4-3 and ending the day on a high note. 

Nebraska will return to the lanes in two weeks at the Colonial Lanes Classic hosted by No. 19 Tulane from Nov. 21-23 in Harahan, La.  

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