Huskers Place Third in St. Louis

Nebraska bowling went 3-0 in the final day of competition at the Columbia 300 Saints Invite, finishing the weekend in third place with an overall record of 8-5. Their final pinfall was 13,521 with a 208.0 pin average. 

The Huskers’ first match of the day was a rematch against the twelfth-ranked Wright State Raiders, who had bested NU in the traditional round the day prior. The Scarlet and Cream trotted out Brenna Hartzler, Lani Breedlove, Kayla Starr, Karina Capron and Jillian Martin as their starters, and they would get off to a hot start right away, shooting a clean 234-144 to take game one. Game two saw some open frames, making it close, but the Huskers held on, taking a 2-0 lead with a slim 205-203 win. An open frame early in game three cost the Big Red, as from the fourth frame onward, both teams struck five-straight. Martin would add a triple in the tenth, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Raiders’ momentum as they would take their first game of the match, 247-235. Nebraska responded with a clean 202-193 win to take a 3-1 lead and set up a decisive game five. In that game, the Huskers would put together a dominant 232-214 victory to seal it, winning 4-1 and moving on. 

The second match was against the fifth-ranked Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. Game one was close, but a walk-off strike from Martin helped the Big Red win 199-195. The Bulldogs would respond in turn with a 235-223 scoreline to even the match to a game apiece and continued to press their advantage into game three with a 215-203 victory to take the lead. What followed was a rock fight of a game where the Huskers ultimately pulled off a 188-187 win to even the series again. NU was able to capitalize on the Bulldog’s splits in game five, taking a 3-2 series lead with a dominant 216-159 win. They’d cap it off with a 224-181 scoreline to seal the series 4-2, moving on to play for third place. 

The final opponent of the tournament would be the UAB Blazers. With a chance to place for the first time since the MOTIV Penguin Classic back in October, the Huskers were resolute to start, taking game one 205-180. Game two was truly dominant as the Big Red would post another win, 244-191, with an even more impressive showing in game three at 245-156. The Blazers would try to steal a game, but the Huskers had none of it, icing the series 237-182 in game four and securing a third-place finish in the tournament. 

The two individual standouts on the team, Martin and Hartzler, were both named to the All-Tournament Team for their finishes in second- and fourth-place, respectively. 

The Huskers are back in action Feb. 20-22 when they host their own Big Red Invitational at Hollywood Bowl in Lincoln, Neb. 

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