MILLSBORO, Del. – North Carolina A&T has its third straight bowling tournament win, they have won 22 of their last 23 games, and they have at least one win against the top two teams in the country this season.
The Aggies won its third straight tournament, the Eastern Shore Hawk Classic, on Sunday, hosted by Maryland Eastern Shore at Millsboro Lanes, thanks to two wins over the second-ranked team in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) poll, the Vanderbilt Commodores.
A&T improved to 40-6 and came from 242 pins behind the Commodores to secure what head coach Kim Terrell-Kearney described as a big win.
Both teams entered Sunday's Bracket play 9-1. A&T's 9-1 included an 839-826 win over Vandy in Baker play on Friday. After the Commodores took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Baker play matchup, the Aggies stormed back to win the final three games, outscoring Vandy 563-496.
After securing the win, A&T earned a spot in the championship match. However, before playing for the title, A&T did play in a match with no playoff implications against St. Franci College-Brooklyn. Meanwhile, Vandy faced 10th-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson, who defeated 12th-ranked Delaware State in the first round, 4-2.
Vandy did quick work of FDU, sweeping the Knights 4-0 to earn a rematch against the Aggies. A&T defeated St. Francis College – Brooklyn, 4-0, outscoring the Terriers 783-616.
Vandy and A&T then had an explosive rematch. The Commodores took a 1-0 lead after a 209-193 win before the Aggies evened things with a 201-195 squeaker. A&T won the next two games with a combined pin total of 446-361 to take a 3-1 lead.
But Vandy forced a Game 7 by winning games 5 and 6, defeating the Aggies in a close 234-221 Game 6 to force Game 7. But senior Lauren Tomaszewski anchored the Aggies to the win. Tomaszewski bowled strikes in the first two attempts of the 10th frame but still needed four pins to give A&T the win. She overachieved by bowling another strike to provide A&T with the 227-220 win.
"The best thing about today's win is witnessing the shift," Terrell-Kearney said. "I watched our players flat out believe that they can beat the top teams in the country. And then they did it. Three weeks in a row."
It will be interesting to see where the Aggies rank in the next NTCA poll as they wrapped play in the fall semester with three straight tournament W's. The Aggies defeated every team in the NTCA top-5 at least once this fall. They went 22-6 against ranked opponents, including an 8-3 record against the top-5.
A&T also went 8-0 in the first MEAC Meet that included four ranked opponents. The Aggies begin the spring 2023 schedule in Deptford, N.J., from Jan. 20-22 in the SHU Northeast Classic.
