Semifinalists determined for 2016 ISC

Qualifying | Men's bracket | Women's bracket 

WICHITA, Kan. - The men's and women's semifinalists for the 2016 Intercollegiate Singles Championships were determined Tuesday at Northrock Lanes.

ISC2016Field_465The men's ISC semifinal matches will feature Darren Tang of San Jose State taking on Kenny Ryan of Robert Morris-Illinois, while Dallas Leong of UNLV faces off against Daniel Hanson of Robert Morris-Illinois.

The women's matches will include defending ISC champion Emily Eckhoff of Hastings against Tawni Vollmer of Webber International and Stephanie Schwartz of Stephen F. Austin taking on Morgan Brown of Fairleigh Dickinson.

Both the men's and women's semifinals will take place at Northrock Lanes on Saturday and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network starting in May. The women's show will run Tuesday, May 10, and the men's show will air Tuesday, May 17. Both will start at 9 p.m. Eastern.

Tang is hoping to keep the ISC title not only at San Jose State, but in the family, too. Darren's younger brother, Michael, captured the 2015 ISC win, also at Northrock Lanes.

Darren punched his ticket to the show with a 608-527 victory against Calumet's Michael Davidson.

"It was an amazing feeling watching him win the title last year, and to be able to have the chance to give it a run is definitely something special," said Tang, a senior who led the nation with a 221.4 average during the 2015-16 United States Bowling Congress Collegiate regular season. "I was really just trying to stay in the moment, take it one shot at a time and keep my head in it. That's the main thing with me for match play - just to keep my head in the game."

Eckhoff's return to the semifinals included a rematch of last year's championship match against Nebraska's Julia Bond in the quarterfinals. After taking the early lead, Eckhoff added 10 pins to her advantage by edging Bond in Game 2, 300-290. Eckhoff secured the victory with a three-game tally of 782-772.

"I know how strong of a player Julia is, and I knew I had to be aggressive with my game," said Eckhoff, a junior who is looking to become the first player on either the men's or women's side to successfully defend an ISC title. "I didn't have to move much during the match, but I had to be aggressive with every shot, and it worked out really well. I will definitely focus more on technique and getting through each shot like last year, and hopefully it works out the same."

Tuesday's competition started with 24 men and 16 women, who qualified from sectionals held across the country in April. All competitors bowled eight games of qualifying to determine seeding for the single-elimination match-play bracket. Each bracket match featured three games, with total pinfall determining who advanced to the next round.

Competition at Northrock Lanes will continue Thursday morning at 9:45 a.m. Eastern with the Intercollegiate Team Championships. Each round leading up to the finals will be broadcast on BOWL.com's BowlTV.