Women's Bowling | 3/25/2026 7:02:00 PM

GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T faces a formidable test.

But with the way the North Carolina A&T bowling team has played lately, the Aggies appear ready for what faces them next week. The NCAA Women's Bowling Committee revealed the 2026 NCAA Bowling Championship Tournament brackets on Wednesday, and for the sixth straight season, the Aggies earned a spot in the NCAA's postseason.

The Aggies are headed to the Lansing, Mich., regional, along with the top-ranked Jacksonville State Gamecocks and defending NCAA champions, the Youngstown State Penguins. A&T opens against Youngstown State on Friday, April 3, at 9 a.m. at Royal Scot Bowling Center, entering the 19-team tournament with a 73-35 (.676) record after back-to-back MEAC titles and five in the last six years.

By winning the MEAC, the Aggies are one of 11 teams who earned an automatic bid to the tournament, joining Alabama A&M (SWAC), Belmont Abbey College (Conference Carolinas), Bryant (East Coast Conference), Carroll University (College-Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin), Dominican (NY) (CACC), Duquesne (NEC), Fayetteville State (CIAA), Jax State (Conference USA), Newman University (Great Lakes Valley Conference), and Saint Vincent College (AMCC).

The eight other teams in the field earned at-large bids. They include Arkansas State University, Louisiana Tech University, Maryville University of Saint Louis, University of Nebraska, Sam Houston State University, Vanderbilt University, Wichita State University, and Youngstown State University.

"We are in there with Jacksonville State, which is the No. 1 team in the country," said A&T head coach Kim Terrell-Kearney, the seven-time MEAC Coach of the Year. "We are certainly going to have to be at our best to get out of there. "But as I've watched our team grow and get better each and every week, I like our chances."

The Aggies enter the tournament as the 12th-ranked team in the nation according to the latest National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) poll. They are 0-4 against Youngstown State, the seventh-ranked team in the country, this season, with all four matches played in Baker format. The Gamecocks are the No.1 overall seed in the tournament and will face the winner of the Dominican/Alabama A&M single-elimination matchup scheduled for Thursday, April 2, at 9 a.m. from the Royal Scot Bowling Center.

The other top seeds in the tournament include Vanderbilt (Rochester, NY region), Arkansas State (Pittsburgh, Pa. region), and Louisiana Tech (Arlington, Texas region). The winner of each regional will advance to the NCAA championship. The championship matches will be played April 10-11 at Yorktown Lanes in Parma Heights, Ohio. The Mid-American Conference and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission are the hosts.

All regionals are double-elimination, except for the opening-round match at the five-team regional sites, which will be single-elimination. Each round will consist of teams competing in a best-of-three match format, bowled in the following order: five-person traditional team match; Baker total pinfall; and best-of-seven Baker match play.

Regional competition will conclude with one team from each regional bracket advancing to compete in the championship. The champion will be determined through a best-of-seven Baker match play, with the championship match airing on ESPNU at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, April 11.

"This tournament is going to be amazing," said senior Juliana Sams. "After this past weekend off of a win, I feel like that showed our growth and our confidence coming into this next week. We work very hard, and I am very confident we are going to make it very far. I'm ready to show our skills."