March 21, 2009

ELMWOOD PARK, NJ - At day two of the Northeast Conference Championships, the Sacred Heart women's bowling team looked like the long season and injuries had finally caught up to it. The usually reliable Pioneers struggled and were bounced from the tournament with losses to St. Francis (NY) and St. Peter's - teams they had generally been able to handle during the regular season.

"We came in here confident that we could win the conference championship," said head coach Becky Kregling. "It was tough to watch the players be unable to execute quality shots when we needed them."

In the championship bracket, the #2 seeded Pioneers made many errant shots in the 4-4 loss to St. Francis (148-183L, 155-147W, 178-189L, 142-139W, 155-170L, 161-170L). Sarah Pelletier performed the best, filling 10 of 12 frames (83%) while the team had a record low opening 31 of 60 frames (65% filled frames).

In round two, SHU went up against St. Peter's in the loser's bracket. Rookie Savannah Zientara came off the bench to the anchor spot to lead the team with 80% filled frames but it wasn't enough. Again, the Pioneers misfired, missing 34% of their spares and filling only 70% of the frames. They were eliminated from the tournament early after a 4.5-2.5 loss (169-169T, 175-131W, 187-192L, 158-171L, 190-147W, 157-192L, 164-169L).

"This was not the way any of us ever expected to end our season. We are going to utilize the practices we have left with the players who are not suffering injuries and get ready for next season," said Coach Kregling.