INDIANAPOLIS, IN…Only four teams in the history of NCAA Women’s Bowling have been selected for all five NCAA National Collegiate Women’s Bowling Championships and on Wednesday, the New Jersey City University women kept that streak alive when the eight-team field for the fifth annual NCAA championship was announced. The Gothic Knights, ranked No. 6 in the nation among Division I, II and III schools, qualified for the championship, which will be hosted by the University of Nebraska from Thursday-Saturday, April 10-12 at Thunder Alley, in Omaha, Nebraska.
The eight teams, all selected at-large by the NCAA Women’s Bowling Committee, include #1 Nebraska, #2 University of Maryland Eastern Shore, #3 Vanderbilt University, #4 University of Central Missouri, #5 Sacred Heart University, #8 Arkansas State University , #9 University of Minnesota-Mankato and NJCU. The Knights enter with a single-season record for victories at 87-35 overall.
NJCU, Central Missouri, Maryland Eastern Shore and Nebraska are the only four schools selected to all five NCAA championships, as the committee did not extend a bid to 2006 national champion and #7 ranked Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Sacred Heart is making its fourth appearance, while Vanderbilt, the defending national champions, earned their third straight bid. Minnesota-Mankato returns after qualifying for the first time in 2007. Arkansas State will compete in the field for the first time, becoming the 14th different school to appear in the event.
Eighth-year head coach
FRANK PARISI, the 2006 and 2007 Division III National Coach of the Year, who is in his second year of a four-year appointment as a member of the six-person NCAA Committee, said: “I am very proud of these young ladies for doing what needed to be done to make nationals again. It is a tribute to the players and coaches that we have made it all five years it has been contested. We did not have the year we had hoped, but anything can happen in the postseason. We need to put forth our best effort and let the results speak for themselves.”
The selection to the NCAA Tournament allowed the women’s bowling team to equal the school record of consecutive NCAA appearances achieved by the men’s basketball team, which competed in the NCAAs in five straight seasons from 1994-99—the last four years as an at-large selection.
NJCU’s three seniors—#AMIEÉ deNEUF#
(Hamburg, NJ/Vernon Township),
KRISTINA FIGUEIREDO (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) and
VICKI SPRATFORD (Hopelawn, NJ/Woodbridge)—have achieved the rare feat of reaching an NCAA Championship in every year of their career.
“I’m really excited for NCAAs this year,” said Spratford, a three-time All-American and the 2007 Division III National Player of the Year. “To attend every year is a chance of a lifetime. It’s been a long season and getting this bid proves we are still a powerhouse. We are a strong team this year and I am looking forward to excelling there. No matter what happens, I had an amazing experience at NJCU.”
At #6, the Gothic Knights enter the NCAA Championship with its lowest ranking in the last three years, after a No. 4 position in 2006 and 2007. For the third consecutive year, the final regular-season National Tenpin Coaches Association national poll is nearly identical to the field for the NCAAs. The top six schools in the March 2008 poll all will compete for the national title.
At 87-35, NJCU has a .713 winning percentage. In 2007, NJCU was 69-21-1 (.764) coming in. In 2006, NJCU was 72-29-1 for a .711 percentage; in 2005, the Knights, then ranked No. 2 nationally, were 70-25 (.737) and in 2004 had a mark of 59-33-1 (.640).
NJCU has reached the Final Four in two of its four previous appearances in the NCAA Tournament, placing third in 2004 and fourth in 2006 when the event was held in Houston, TX. The 2005 and 2007 championships were held in Apopka, FL, with the Knights tying for fifth place and seventh place, respectively.
NJCU is the only Division III institution in the championship. UCM and Mankato are Division II schools. The other five participants are all Division I scholarship schools.
NJCU has posted another exceptional season. In eight tournaments, NJCU has finished second twice and third in each of the final three events of the season.
The qualifying round, which determines a team's seed based on total pinfall, will have each team bowling four five-person regular team games and four five-game total Baker matches, with the winner determined by total pinfall. The fourth Baker set will serve as the position round. The pinfall from the position round will serve as the tie-breaker. The Baker format allows five team members to follow each other in a rotating order, each bowling two frames until a complete, 10-frame game is bowled.
Based on the qualifying round, teams are placed in a double-elimination bracket. Teams compete against each other in a best four-out-of-seven Baker-style bowling competition, until the national championship is awarded. Ties, within a Baker game will be decided by a ninth and tenth frame roll-off. Once bracket play has commenced, the higher seed gets starting lane choice for the final game of the match if it is an odd number and/or if there is a tie-breaker game that must be played.
Figueiredo said: “I feel so grateful to be going to the NCAA championships for the fourth year in a row. It’s a great way to end my senior year and we’re going to make every second count.”
DeNeuf added: “Receiving a bid to nationals all four years of my career at NJCU is more than I could have ever dreamed. After a long season, we have a chance to continue to show the nation our strength. I look forward to ending my senior year with memories that will lat a lifetime with teammates I will never forget.”
Tickets can be purchased in person at Thunder Alley during the event or by calling 402-472-3111 prior to the championship. The championship will air live on ESPNU on April 12 at 8 p.m. ET and will be re-aired on ESPN2 on Monday, April 14 at 7 p.m. ET.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
