Vanderbilt threatened, but holds top spot after two rounds of 2019 Prairie View A&M Invitational

Standings
Day 1 | Day 2 | Individual


ARLINGTON, Texas
– A late rally helped Vanderbilt maintain their lead after two days of competition at the 2019 Prairie View A&M Invitational.

The Commodores faced defending champion McKendree in the finale of Saturday’s five-game set and tossed a 1,046 game to reclaim the lead after the Bearcats briefly led following their scintillating 1,116 in Game 4.
 
The Commodores set the pace through 25 Baker games Friday and averaged nearly 203 as a team during Saturday’s block at the International Training and Research Center to lead the way with a total pinfall of 10,150. Vanderbilt is looking for its first Prairie View A&M Invitational title since winning the inaugural event in 2012.

McKendree, the defending champions, sits in second with a 10,059 total and is followed by Arkansas State (9,693) and Sam Houston State (9,566).

Stephen F. Austin sits in fifth (9,549) and is only 17 pins outside of the top four.

With one more traditional game scheduled for Sunday morning, the 12 teams will be seeded into three brackets for the final phase of the three-day event. Only the top four teams will have a chance to win the tournament, though all teams will compete in the best-of-seven Baker bracket.

Vanderbilt owns the best record of the weekend so far at 9-1, followed by McKendree (8-2), Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, Nebraska and Tulane (6-4).

Individually, Vanderbilt’s Maria Bulanova averaged more than 230 to set the pace with a five-game total of 1,153. McKendree’s Breanna Clemmer is second with 1,101, Maryland Eastern Shore’s Cayla Hicks is third with 1,067, North Carolina A&T’s Ericka Quesada is fourth with 1,057 and Adel Wahner of Vanderbilt (1,044) rounded out the top five.

The three-day event features a combination of Baker and traditional games, with total pinfall determining the seeding for Sunday’s best-of-seven Baker brackets, but each individual match along the way also counts toward the teams’ records for the 2018-2019 season.

All 12 teams in the field bowled five five-game Baker matches Friday and five traditional team games Saturday. They’ll be back on the lanes Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern for one additional team game, before the winner emerges from the best-of-seven match-play brackets Sunday afternoon.

Seeding for the brackets will be based on total pinfall from the 25 Baker games and six traditional games.

Along with the Prairie View A&M Invitational trophy on the line, each match the teams bowl goes toward their overall record, which helps determine the teams that qualify for the 2019 NCAA Bowling Championship being held in Cleveland from April 11-13.

Sunday’s round will be broadcast live at BowlTV.com. Viewers have had the opportunity to watch every lane in play this weekend on the platform and follow their favorite teams.