Women's Bowling | 3/26/2025 5:21:00 PM
GREENSBORO – There are a few certainties in life. Death. Texas. And the North Carolina A&T bowling team will play Louisiana Tech in the NCAA bowling tournament.
It is a definite again. On Wednesday, the NCAA revealed the brackets for the 2025 NCAA Bowling Championship Tournament during the Selection Show on NCAA.com.
The Aggies, winners of four of the last five Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) tournament championships, including the 2025 tournament they clinched on Sunday, are headed to Rochester, NY Region and will face Lady Techsters at 9 a.m., Friday, April 4, from BOWL-A-ROLL.
The team in the region and the No. 3 overall seed is Youngstown State. The Penguins will get the winner single elimination match between Marian and St. Vincent on Thursday.
Nineteen teams made the NCAA tournament over four regions, with defending national champion Jacksonville State earning the No. 1 overall seed out of Arlington, Texas Region. Six-time champion Nebraska (No. 2 overall seed) is the Pittsburgh, Pa.'s No. 1 seed, and Wichita State (No. 4 overall seed) is the top seed out of the Lansing, Mich. Region.
A&T was one of 11 teams to receive an automatic qualifier by winning their respective conference tournaments. The other eight teams in the field received at-large bids. The Aggies are making their fifth straight NCAA tournament appearance and seventh overall.
The Aggies are the only MEAC team in the tournament and one of three HBCUs to receive a bid, joining Prairie View A&M and Fayetteville State. A&T enters the tournament as the No. 8 team in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) poll with an 84-36 record.
La Tech eliminated the Aggies from the Arlington, Texas Regional a year ago in an elimination match that led the Lady Techsters to the regional final. Three years ago, La Tech defeated the Aggies 2-0 in a Mega Match after the Aggies bowled in three different contests in Arlington. And who was A&T's first match against in their first tournament of the season?
Louisiana Tech.
La Tech received an at-large bid into the tournament. The Lady Techsters are the 11th-ranked team in the nation. Despite their familiarity, A&T and La Tech have only faced each other twice during the 2024-25 season.
The Lady Techsters won the 2024-25 season-opening match in Baker format, 1050-903, at the Destination/Orlando tournament in October. A&T avenged that loss in Baker format, 1,170-976 at the Prairie View A&M Invitational at the ITRC in Arlington.
Other than the Marian/St. Vincent's matchup, the Rochester Regional, is a double-elimination tournament. The four region winners will converge on Las Vegas, Nev. For the Final Four, April 11-12 at the Suncoast Bowling Center.
"You're going to get a fire-filled team," Avilez said about the NCAA tournament. "We haven't made the Final Four since I've been here, so we want it. I know the seniors want it. I know the seniors are imparting that want on the freshmen. We want it."
