VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Evolution is supposed to make things better over time. If that is the case with the 2021-22 North Carolina A&T bowling team, there are some special times ahead in AggieLand. 

Head coach Kim Terrell-Kearey's Aggies took another step toward repeating as Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) champions, Saturday afternoon at the Pinboy's At The Beach bowling alley. 

Against its longtime nemesis, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Hawks, the Aggies looked poised and in command for the 87 minutes it took to defeat the Hawks 2-0 in Mega Match play. A&T will play in the championship match against either UMES or Delaware State at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 27, from Pinboy's. 

Del State and UMES will play a 9 a.m. elimination Mega Match on Sunday. The MEAC championship match will re-air at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, April 3, on ESPNU.

If the Aggies win, they will win their third conference championship in five years under Terrell-Kearney. They are looking for their seventh MEAC title all-time, and they hope to win back-to-back championships for the first time since 2003, 2004 (the Aggies also won the MEAC in 2002). 

"They are just flat out determined to get back into a position to win this championship," said Terrell-Kearney. "So much of this game has to do with believing in what you're about to do. We have worked hard in the past couple of weeks to change our mindset. We want to trust and believe in the decisions that are made and just go out there and execute."

But as the 2022 version of A&T bowling prepares for Sunday, the differences from the 2021 championship team are noticeable. Gone are the two senior veterans who will undoubtedly go down in the annals of all-time great bowlers in A&T history in Cameron Strombeck and Ana Olaya. 

The talented freshman is now the MEAC bowler of the year in Melanie Katen. Ericka Quesada is now the senior leader, and junior Lauren Tomaszewski has transformed into one of the best players in the country. In addition, senior Pamela Warr has played a more prominent role in the Aggies lineup this season. 

Throughout the MEAC tournament, the young players such as sophomore Laura Garcia and freshman Chloe Newberry have been superb. 

Differentiating between the two teams is okay with Terrell-Kearney. Throughout the season, she has wanted the 2021-22 team to have its own identity in history separate from the 2020-21 team that made an NCAA tournament appearance and finished second nationally at the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships. 

 However, as she seeks her fourth MEAC title as a head coach (one at Delaware State in 2009), she has yet to pinpoint this team's identity. 

"There's certainly no quit, but we had that last year," Terrell-Kearney said. "They're hardworking, but again the same, it comes from the same place. We're evolving. We have to let it come to its completion." 

She's right. The Aggies looked evolved from the team that showed up to Pinboy's on Friday. The Aggies had their troubles in traditional play on Friday. That was not so on Friday. 

In traditional play against UMES on Saturday, all five Aggie bowlers recorded strikes in their respective third frames, and Katen led off the fourth frame with a strike followed by a strike from Garcia. 

The reeling Hawks never recovered as the Aggies defeated UMES 1,089-923. Tomaszewski bowled seven strikes and led the Aggies with a 247. Newberry opened her day with three straight strikes and then closed the round with four strikes and spare to finish with a 234. 

Garcia, who had a terrific day on Friday, remained steady with six strikes as she posted a 224. Katen and Quesada finished with a 194 and a 190, respectively. 

The Aggies won the Bakers match, 1,077-940. UMES won only Game 2, 213-211, but the Aggies did not bowl poorly in that instance either. The Aggies were a Tomaszewski strike away from winning as she turned in a spare on the 10th frame.  

A&T's most dominant showing in Bakers came in Game 4 when Katen, Garcia, Newberry and Quesada opened with strikes, and Tomaszewski closed with two strikes and a nine. The Aggies won the other games 201-169 (Game 1), 203-193 (Game 3) and 224-159 (Game 5). 

"We all had fun today," said Tomaszewski. "The lanes played a little more in our favor where we had a little more miss room to the left or right, where yesterday in traditional it was a little tighter, but overall I think we just enjoyed it a little more today. 

Sometimes we get a little too wrapped up in all the technical stuff and all the pressure and stress. But if you fall in love with the game again. Find that passion to where it's just bowling. You don't have the pressure of, 'Oh, we have to win conference, or we have to win this.' You're just having fun with it."

There is a good identity. Fun and Winning!