INDIANAPOLIS, IN (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | All good things must come to an end, even for the New Jersey City University women's bowling team. Despite being ranked No. 6 in the country among Division I, II and III schools and qualifying for the NCAA National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship in seven consecutive seasons, the Gothic Knights were not one of the eight schools selected at-large for the 2011 NCAA Championship, the NCAA Women's Bowling Committee announced in a live selection show on Wednesday afternoon.
NJCU, a four-time national semifinalist (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010), including a pair of third-place NCAA finishes (2004, 2008), has its 2011 season end with an 84-35 record and its third most victories ever.
Surprisingly, in the eight-year history of the championship, NJCU, with a No. 6 ranking in the country, becomes the highest-ranked team to not qualify for the NCAA Championship. In 2008, Fairleigh Dickinson University was No. 7 nationally when it missed the field.
The 2011 field includes Arkansas State University, Central Missouri University, Fairleigh Dickinson, Kutztown University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, University of Nebraska, Sam Houston State University and Vanderbilt University. NJCU's absence leaves Central Missouri, Maryland Eastern Shore and Nebraska as the only schools that have qualified all eight seasons the championship has been in existence. Kutztown and Sam Houston are first-time selections.
“I'm certainly bitterly disappointed,” said an emotional head coach FRANK PARISI. “While I thought it could have gone this way, I never expected it. All the numbers I had had us ahead of Sam Houston State. I'm disappointed for the team, especially Nicole [NICOLE DREJERWSKI (Levittown, PA/Conwell-Egan Catholic)], being her senior year. They deserved better. We should be there in Detroit.”
What makes the decision even more difficult for NJCU is its record against teams in the tournament (12-13). The Gothic Knights held a 5-3 record against #1 ranked and defending NCAA champion Fairleigh Dickinson, and no other school in the country had more than two wins against FDU. Additionally, NJCU was 2-0 against Sam Houston and 2-1 versus Central Missouri this season while posting a 1-1 mark with Southeastern Conference foe Vanderbilt.
Of the other three teams in the field, NJCU lost its only meeting of the season with Nebraska by six pins and did not play Arkansas State. Kutztown (4-2) and Maryland Eastern Shore (3-0) had winning records over NJCU.
With the streak ending this season, the seven consecutive NCAA Tournament selections is a school record for every athletics program ever offered in the 81-year history of the University. The only other sports program in the history of the institution to qualify for an NCAA Championship in five or more years is 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.
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