Tulane takes second at Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Bowling Invitational

KENNER, La. – No. 17 Tulane bowling went on a run Sunday, defeating No. 19 UAB and No. 6 Stephen F. Austin, before ultimately falling to No. 5 Sam Houston State, 4-2, in the final match of the 2017 Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Bowling Invitational at AMF All Star Lanes.

The Green Wave reached the championship match of the tournament for the second straight year, but was unable to repeat its 2016 championship. In bracket play on Sunday, Tulane defeated the Blazers in a tiebreak game after splitting the match, 3.5-3.5, then topped the Ladyjacks, 4-2 to reach the championship match.

Tulane totaled 3,873 pins Sunday in Baker match bracket play to finish with 14,253 pins for the tournament and a 206.6 average. Freshman Madison McCall, who averaged 217.40 with 1,087 pins during traditional play on Saturday, earned All-Tournament Team honors.

“It obviously would have been nice to repeat, but I’m so proud of our ladies. They performed exceptionally well this weekend,” Tulane head coach Hayley Veitch said. “We had been in that position before (against UAB), and we knew we could do it. That was a momentum changer – we knew that if we could win that game, we could go all the way to the championship match.”

Tulane won the first game of the finals, 193-180, but Sam Houston State took the second game, 204-181, triggering a back-and-forth affair. The Green Wave came from behind for a clutch win in the third game, 207-184. Trailing 109-82 after five frames, the Wave sandwiched five strikes around a spare to overtake the Bearkats and grab a 2-1 match lead. SHSU tied it up with a 256-194 win in the fourth game, then turned the match by striking out the 10th frame to win the fifth game, 225-224. The Bearkats then clinched the match with a 256-202 sixth-game win.

The Green Wave turned in a pair of impressive victories to reach the finals. Tulane defeated UAB in a tiebreaker to start the day: 231-175, 203-203, 195-247, 191-187, 204-208, 200-216, 212-158 (106-86). The Wave rallied from a 30-point deficit in the second game when McCall struck out the 10th frame to earn a split. In the fourth game, McCall bowled a spare and strike in the 10th frame to win the game. Needing a victory in the seventh game to stay in championship contention, Tulane came through with a big 212-158 win, and won the five-frame tiebreak, 106-86.

Entering Sunday, Tulane trailed Stephen F. Austin by just 97 pins in the standings, and the teams had split their two matches this weekend. On Sunday, however, the Green Wave made their mark with a 4-2 victory (213-184, 188-172, 180-222, 221-202, 157-225, 277-201). The Wave led 2-1 after three frames, and then bowled 10 strikes in the decisive sixth game to post a 277 and clinch the match.

“We knew Madison was going to be great for our team, and she definitely did well this weekend” Veitch said. “She had no nerves, and really just pulled through. She can strike, a lot. (Junior) Hailee Hammond was a superstar (this weekend). She came in during so many games and just struck, struck, struck. She did an awesome job.”

Sam Houston State won the Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Bowling Invitational for the third time in four years, and the Tulane tournament for the fourth time in six years. Stephen F. Austin’s Stephanie Schwartz (245.60 average) was named tournament MVP. Taylor Russell of UAB (234.40), and Stephanie Zavala (231.20) and Madysen Keller (219.20) of Sam Houston State joined McCall on the All-Tournament Team.

The Green Wave return to action Nov. 3-5 at the Sam Houston State Track Kat Klash in Houston.

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Final Standings
1. No. 5 Sam Houston State
2. No. 17 Tulane
3. No. 6 Stephen F. Austin
4. Louisiana Tech
5. No. 19 UAB
6. No. 20 Prairie View A&M
7. Valparaiso
8. Lincoln Memorial
9. No. 25 Duquesne
10. Florida A&M
11. Jackson State
12. Texas Southern
13. Southern
14. Alabama A&M

Tulane Individual Rankings (pin avg)
5. Madison McCall (217.40)
13. Michelle Ng (208.80)
37. Tiera Gulum (189.00)
61. Claire Turner (191.67)
69. Nikki Williams (229.00)
70. Isabelle Lee (225.00)
73. Hailee Hammond (193.50)