No. 3 Vanderbilt remains undefeated at Southland Bowling League Championsip

Photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2015 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2015 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 21, 2015) The Southland Bowling League Championship continued on Saturday afternoon, March 21. 2015 Del-Mar Lanes in Houston with four matches; one in the championship bracket and three in the consolation bracket. Match nine was the first of the afternoon with the No. 5 Valparaiso Crusaders facing No. 7 Monmouth Hawks. Both teams came into the match with 1-1 records. The Crusaders overcame the Hawks by the score of 4-0 (183-164, 168-122, 163-158, 214-190).

In the second consolation matchup, match 10, the No. 2 Stephen F. Austin LadyJacks faced the No. 4 Sam Houston State Bearkats. In the end, the Bearkats came out on top by the score of 4-2 (190-179, 186-173, 246-201, 176-184, 176-179, 171-191). The SHSU win setup a rematch of a round one game with the Bearkats facing Valparaiso. In that game (match 12) the Crusaders came out on top by the score of 4-3 (145-154, 187, 217, 193-173, 201-166, 199-149, 202-174).

Prior to the Sam Houston vs. Valparaiso match, the two undefeated teams, No. 1 Arkansas State and No. 3 Vanderbilt played to a 4-3 outcome with the Commodores coming out on top. The win gave Vanderbilt a 3-0 record while the Red Wolves fell to 2-1. As a result, the Red Wolves will face Valparaiso at 9:35 a.m. on Sunday, March 22 with the winner advancing to the final against Vanderbilt. Should the Commodores should lose in the noon match, a 1:45 p.m. match would be schedule since Vanderbilt would have only one loss. The championship round will be streamed live at Bowl.com/BowlTV.

Arkansas State, Vanderbilt undefeated through two rounds of SBL Championship

Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin will face off in the
third round of the SBL Championship.
Photo b y Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2015 All Rights Reserved.

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2015 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 21, 2015) Day one of the Southland Bowling League Championship was contested at Del-Mar Lanes in Houston on Saturday, March 21, 2015 and saw No. 1 Arkansas State and No. 3 Vanderbilt advancing to the third round, both having defeated their first and second round opponents to remind undefeated. 

In the first round, Arkansas State downed No. 8 seed Louisiana Tech by the score of 4-1 (264-156, 147-187, 189-178, 204-166, 212-199) while Vanderbilt took down Tulane 4-1 (157-126, 168-149, 176-186, 199-161, 204-142).

In other first round matches, No. 4 Sam Houston State defeated No. 5 Valparaiso 4-2 (234-170, 194-173, 167-176, 195-234, 179-176, 220-241) while No. 7 Monmouth beat No. 2 Stephen F. Austin 4-1 (204-198, 170-203, 194-185, 218-184, 206-179).

The second round found Valparaiso eliminating Louisiana Tech 4-2 (215-181, 197-210, 191-195, 185-159, 237-174, 244-135). SFA also sent Tulane home with their second loss of the day by the score of 4-3 (156-169, 202-190, 202-174, 173-174, 189-183, 181-200, 214-202).

The third round, which kicks off at 2:30 p.m. CDT on Saturday, March 21 will see the two undefeated teams, Arkansas State and Vanderbilt, facing off. The four teams who stand at 1-1 will bowl, with the losers going home. The consolation bracket consists of Valparaiso facing Monmouth and SFA facing SHSU.

Arkansas State is currently ranked number three in the nation by the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) poll. SFA is ranked fifth nationally in the poll, with Vanderbilt ranked sixth and defending NCAA champion Sam Houston is ranked seventh.

Semi-final and final matches will be contested on Sunday, March 22 beginning at 9:30 a.m. CDT.