NEW ORLEANS, LA- Monmouth University's bowling team finished the 2016 season with a fifth place finish at the 2016 Southland Bowling League Championships, held over the weekend at AMF All-Star Lanes.
“The Southland League consists of 4 of the top 6 teams in the country and we had to verse two of them in our bracket,” said Monmouth head coach Karen Grygiel. “We made it to the third round but did not execute consistently enough to make it further. Overall it was a good season. We had some strong wins against the top teams in the country. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we showed significant improvements in our averages and scoring pace. “
The Hawks, who ranked 17th in the NCAA coming into the event, were selected as the fifth seed in the eighth-team tournament. Monmouth opened the tournament being edged by fourth-seeded Stephen F. Austin, 4 games to 3. The Hawks dropped the first game 203-198, then won the second match by 52 pins. The Lumberjacks and Hawks went back and forth until a deciding game seven was taken for SFA 202-178.
Monmouth dispatched Louisiana Tech in the back draw bracket by a 4-3 margin, winning the first three matches. The Bulldogs came back with three straight victories to force a seventh game, which MU won in dominating fashion, 238-167.
Individually, junior Kaitlyn Reth (Baltimore, MD/Overlea/Baltimore CC) was named to the Southland All-Tournament Team.
MU's season came to end when they faced second seeded Vanderbilt who took the 4-1 victory, eventually advancing advance to finals of the backdraw.
Final Standings
1. Arkansas State
2. Sam Houston State
3. Vanderbilt
4. Stephen F. Austin
5. Monmouth
6. Tulane
7. Valparaiso
8. Louisiana Tech
All-Tournament Team
Name Class School
Stephanie Zavala So. Sam Houston State
Brooke Wood Jr. Arkansas State
Jadee Scott-Woods So. Arkansas State
Carrie Hopkinson Sr. Sam Houston State
Kaitlyn Reth Jr. Monmouth
Championship MVB
Jordan Richard So. Arkansas State
