GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T Aggies are headed to Rochester, NY, to appear in their third straight NCAA Women's Bowling National Championship Tournament.
The Aggies, the now three-time reigning Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) champions, learned of their destination and opponent on Wednesday afternoon as the Aggies watched the NCAA Selection Show on NCAA.com at their home bowling alley, Triad Lanes.
The Aggies (89-32), the seventh-ranked team in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) top-25 poll, will face the champions out of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, the 18th-ranked Medaille University Mavericks on April 7 at 3 p.m.
The NCAA revealed the 17-team bracket, with defending national champion and top-ranked McKendree as the overall No. 1 seed. Second-ranked Vanderbilt is the No. 2 seed, followed by Arkansas State and Nebraska as the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively.
"There is so much parity in collegiate bowling; it's going to be a hard road no matter what," said legendary A&T head coach Kim Terrell-Kearney, the reigning three-time MEAC coach of the year and a member of eight different Halls of Fame. "So here we go. We're ready to advance past this round and get in a position to win a national championship."
The Aggies are making their fifth overall trip to the NCAA. All of those appearances have come in the last seven years. In 2016, led by then interim head coach Linda Grace, the Aggies went 1-2 at the NCAA tournament and were eliminated by Stephen F. Austin 4-0 in a best-of-seven Baker match in North Brunswick, NJ.
Two years later, Terrell-Kearney led the Aggies to the NCAA tournament, where they went 1-2, losing to Nebraska 2-0 in a Mega Match in Clayton, Mo. The Aggies returned to the NCAAs in 2021 as the No. 3 seed overall. The Aggies lasted three matches again before Arkansas State eliminated them, 2-1, in Mega Match play in Kansas City, Mo.
Last season, Louisiana Tech took down the Aggies 2-0 in a Mega Match after the Aggies bowled in three different contests in Arlington, Texas. Terrell-Kearney brings in a veteran group this season that includes reigning two-time MEAC bowler of the year Melanie Katen, reigning two-time MEAC tournament most outstanding bowler Lauren Tomaszewski, junior Laura Garcia, and graduate Cristina Acosta.
All four ladies experienced the last two NCAA appearances for A&T.
"The team is very excited. We've never been there (Rochester) before. We have some tough opponents, but we are always up for the challenge," said Acosta.
The Mavericks are 88-30 and are led by three-time AMCC bowler of the year Sarah Radt. A&T faced the Mavericks once this season and came away with a 1,003-975 win in traditional game format on Feb. 11 at the Morgan State James Brown Invitational in Towson, Md.
Arkansas State and Sacred Heart join the Aggies and the Mavericks in the Rochester Regional. The regional round is from April 6-8 in a double-elimination Mega Match format, and the winner of each regional will advance to the National Championship in Las Vegas on April 14-15.
