SMYRNA, TENN. --- The #14 Minnesota State University women's bowling program stands in ninth-place out of 20 teams after the first day of competition at the Columbia 300 Music City Classic with a pin count of 5,320, 700 pins behind tournament leader Nebraska, the #4-ranked team in the nation. The tournament field is especially strong as it features 17 of the top 20 teams in the most recent National Ten Coaches Association poll, including 14 of the top 15 squads in the country.
MSU split its six matches on the day, moving its record to 42-37 on the year. All six contests were five-person team matches (individual games) format. The Mavericks alternated losses and wins during the course of the day, falling to #13 Sacred Heart 927-802, #2 Vanderbilt 1,006-892 and #17 Louisiana Tech 1,050-917, but defeating North Carolina A&T 851-648, upsetting #6 Central Missouri 962-897, and closing out the day with an 896-822 victory over #12 Kutztown.
In the opener against Sacred Heart, senior Ashley Clinchoc led the Maverick charge by rolling a 221, recording six strikes in seven frames at one point. Clinchoc followed that effort with a team-high 199 against North Carolina A&T in helping MSU post its first win of the day. Against the host Commodores in the third match, Clinchoc recorded her best score of the afternoon with a 222, helped in part by five straight strikes from the fifth through ninth frames. In each of her first three matches, Clinchoc had only one open frame.
Junior Sarah Izydorek rolled a season-high 239 in leading Minnesota State to the come-from-behind victory over Central Missouri. Izydorek notched strikes in six of her first seven frames, and closed out with three strikes and an eight-count in her final two frames to help MSU rally from a 12-pin deficit midway through the game to a 65-pin victory. Clinchoc was not far behind with a 208, closing with six strikes in her final five frames, while fellow senior Lisa Hoover chipped in with a personal day-high 192.
Freshman Hali Clark led MSU with an even 200 in the loss to Louisiana Tech, with Hoover and Izydorek not far behind at 188 and 187, respectively. Clark then finished the day with the only Maverick clean sheet of the day with a 194 against Kutztown. Clinchoc had a strong finish in the day's finale as well with a team-best 199, recording five strikes in the final five frames, while freshman Jamie Stockwell finished with eight consecutive marks en route to a personal day-best 191.
Clinchoc's average of 202.5 on the day ranked seventh out of the 130 competitors in the field, while her 1,216 pins were the sixth-best total.
Minnesota State will continue play in the Columbia 300 Music City Classic tomorrow, switching formats to six Baker Matches (four-game, total pinfall). The Mavericks will begin play with a contest against #10 Valparaiso, before squaring off against Winston-Salem State, #3 Fairleigh Dickinson, #4 Nebraska and #11 St. Francis. Following those five matches, MSU will close out the day with a Position Round tilt that will help set the brackets for the final day of competition on Sunday.
