March 28, 2007

FAIRFIELD, CT - The Sacred Heart University women's bowling team has been selected as one of the eight teams to compete in the fourth annual National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship, announced today by the NCAA Women's Bowling Committee.

The Central Florida Sports Commission and Sunshine State Conference will co-host the championship, which will be held April 12-14 at Brunswick Wekiva Lanes in Apopka, Florida.

All eight teams were slected at large and includes the University of Central Missouri, Fairleigh Dickinson University, the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, Minnesota State University-Mankato, the University of Nebraska, New Jersey City University, Sacred Heart University and Vanderbilt University. This is the third time the Pioneers have been selected in the four years the NCAA has sponsored a national championship.

The qualifying round, which determines a team's seed based on total pinfall, will have each team bowling four five-person regular team games and four five-game Baker matches using total pinfall to determine the winner. The fourth Baker set will serve as the position round. The pinfall from the position round will serve as the tiebreaker. The Baker format allows five team members to follow each other in order, each bowling a complete frame until a complete (10-frame) game is bowled.

Based on the qualifying round, teams are placed in a double-elimination bracket. Teams compete against each other in a best-of seven Baker-style bowling competition. Ties within a Baker game will be decided by a ninth and 10th frame roll-off.

Once bracket play has commenced, the higher seed gets starting lane choice for the final game of the match if it is an odd number AND/OR if there is a tie-breaker game that must be played.

Tickets can be purchased at Brunswick Wekiva Lanes during the event or by calling 407/648-4900 prior to the championship.

Fairleigh Dickinson won the title in 2006, defeating Alabama A&M University in the championship match in Houston, Texas.

For more information about the National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship, log on to www.ncaasports.com.