Pikeville women third, men ninth in national tournament

 
 
Pikeville women third, men ninth in national tournament   April 17, 2008

WICHITA, Kan. — The Pikeville College women’s bowlers will face a tough road when double-elimination play begins on Friday while the men will be in the midst of a wild field in the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships at Northrock.

The women are seeded third in the 16-team double-elimination tournament and are in a bracket featuring three of the nation’s top four teams. They will meet No. 14 seeded Calumet College of St. Joseph in the opening round Friday morning at 9:45 CDT.

The men are seeded ninth, exactly where they’re ranked by the Bowling Writers Association of America, and will play eighth-seeded Purdue in the opening round. While Pikeville is in with the No. 1 overall seed after Thursday’s 32 Baker games, according to the National College Bowling Coaches Association (NCBCA), none of the top four are in its bracket, while the coaches have only one of the top six in Pikeville’s pool.

The double-elimination tournament is best-of-seven in each round. Once the winners of each pool is determined, the finals will be one single best-of-three series.

Wichita State is the top seed in the women’s pool, finishing its 32 Baker games with a score of 6,507. Lindenwood will be seeded second, finishing at 6,327. Pikeville’s 6,282 was good for third.

In the women’s pool, the first-round matchups are as follows:

Red Bracket
(1) Wichita State vs. (16) Florida State
(8) Martin Methodist vs. (9) Robert Morris (Ill.)
(5) Purdue vs. (12) McKendree
(4) Morehead State vs. (13) Shippensburg
Blue Bracket
(2) Lindenwood vs. (15) Bellarmine
(7) Maryland-Eastern Shore vs. (10) Newman
(6) Central Florida vs. (11) Fresno State
(3) Pikeville vs. (14) Calumet College of St. Joseph

After facing Calumet, Pikeville will face either Central Florida or Fresno State in the second round, set for 11:30 a.m. local time. Following a lunch break, the 12 remaining teams will resume play at 3 p.m.

William Paterson rallied in the final game on Thursday evening to pass Wichita State for the top overall seed. WPU finished at 6,757, while WSU had 6,737. Purdue finished eighth with a total of 6,412, ahead of Pikeville’s 6,355.

The men’s opening-round matchups are as follows:

Red Bracket
(1) William Paterson vs. (16) Arizona State
(8) Purdue vs. (9) Pikeville
(5) UNLV vs. (12) Vincennes
(4) Central Florida vs. (13) Michigan State
Blue Bracket
(2) Wichita State vs. (15) Mohawk Valley Community College
(7) Calumet College of St. Joseph vs. (10) Wisconsin-Whitewater
(6) Lindenwood vs. (11) Fresno State
(3) Saginaw Valley State vs. (14) Indiana

In the second round, Pikeville will face either top-seeded William Paterson or No. 16 Arizona State at 11:30 a.m.

On the women’s side, Lindenwood, Pikeville and Central Florida are in the top four in both polls. Lindenwood is fourth in both, while Pikeville is second by the coaches and third in the writer’s poll, with Central Florida flipped with Pikeville. All are in the blue bracket.

None of the other five teams in Pikeville’s bracket are in the Top 10 in the writers poll, while the coaches have Fresno State ranked ninth.

On the men’s side, the coaches have WPU third, Purdue seventh, Vincennes eighth, Central Florida ninth, Michigan State 10th, Pikeville 11th, Arizona State 13th and UNLV 14th. The writers have WPU fifth, Vincennes seventh Purdue eighth, Pikeville ninth, Central Florida 10th, Michigan State 12th, Arizona State 15th and UNLV 17th.

The action will culminate with Saturday’s afternoon’s finals, which will be taped for future air on CBS College Sports.