No. 5 Huskers finish Runners-Up at Destination Florida

Orlando, Fla. - The fifth-ranked Nebraska Bowling team finished the Destination Florida tournament in second place, going 10-3 over three days with a 13,773 pinfall and 211.9 average. Entering the day, the Huskers were 8-2 and in third place.

The Big Red began the day with a single traditional match against Saint Anselm, a team that was 3-7 through two days of play. Starters for the Huskers were Alejandra Sandoval, Taylor Kretz, Brenna Hartzler, Karina Capron and Haley Swindle. NU got off to a slow start, but finished strong to handle the Hawks 1,073-827. Kretz led the way with 244, followed by Swindle with 238, then Hartzler with 221 and Capron with 212, with Sandoval rounding out the lineup with 158. With the win, the Huskers solidified their place in third for the bracket matches.

For the first bracket match, the Huskers faced off against No. 2 Vanderbilt as the third and second seeds, respectively. Nebraska was looking to make up for their loss to the Commodores earlier in the tournament's traditional round, with the winner of this match moving on to play for the tournament title. The Huskers made some changes to their lineup, swapping out Sandoval for Kayla Starr. The Big Red established a lead immediately, opening game one with a six-bagger to win 231-204. A solid 197-152 win in game two gave the Huskers a 2-0 match lead. NU held out in a close game three, tossing a clean 218-185 win to set up a decisive game four. They closed the match out with a 198-174 victory, completing the sweep to win 4-0 and head to the championship match.

The Huskers were pitted against No. 1 Jacksonville State for the championship match. The Big Red adjusted its lineup again to start the match, subbing in Desiree Buchert for Starr. The Gamecocks struck first, taking game one decisively 268-173. The Huskers answered back in game two, 215-213 to even the series. Jacksonville State went on to win game three 218-189 and game four 200-176, needing one more game to seal the series. Needing a change, the Huskers swapped Kretz out for Starr, who struck in her first frame to help the Huskers stay alive with a 200-176 win of their own. With the series at 3-2 in Jax State's favor, Nebraska made a valiant effort to keep the series going, but the Gamecocks sealed it with a 236-224 win to make it a 4-2 match.

One Husker received all-tournament honors, as Brenna Hartzler ended up in third place individually among all players with a 1,441 pinfall and 240.17 average over six traditional matches.

The Huskers will return to the lanes this upcoming weekend from Nov. 6-8 when they travel to San Antonio, Texas for the Bulldog Classic hosted by No. 7 Louisiana Tech.

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