New Castle, Del. – The Nebraska bowling team claimed a fifth-place finish at the Northeast Classic on Sunday and finished with an 10-3 overall record.
After five baker total pinfall matches and five traditional matches on Friday and Saturday, the Huskers bowled three best four-of-seven baker matches on Sunday for a chance to repeat as tournament champions after taking the crown last year.
In the first round of bracket play, the Huskers faced No. 3 Youngstown State with a starting lineup of Desiree Buchert, Lani Breedlove, Breanna Hartzler, Kayla Verstraete and Jillian Martin. The Penguins took two of the first three games of the contest, despite the Huskers winning game two (204-187). NU then grabbed game four (247-235) and game five (255-178) to take a 3-2 overall advantage in the match. However, Youngstown State responded with victories in game six (177-215) and game seven (188-245) as the Huskers fell, 3-4, to the Penguins before moving onto the second round of match play.
NU then met No. 6 Arkansas State in another best four-of-seven baker match. Arkansas State took the first game (178-237) and the second game (176-189). NU came back in game three with a 212-170 victory before the Red Wolves won game four (242-161) to take a 3-1 overall lead. The Huskers won the next game, 266-178, but fell 4-2 to Arkansas State (183-238) to secure a spot in the fifth-place game.
In the fifth-place game, the Huskers took on No. 5 Tulane. Nebraska took the first game (257-246) but the Green Wave responded with a victory in the second game (184-226). NU came back with wins in game three (227-188) and game four (186-183) to grab a 3-1 lead. Tulane won the next two games, 214-225, 159-213, to force a winner take all seventh game where NU battled and defeated Tulane (215-184) to finish fifth.
Individually, Buchert led the way for the Huskers with a 4th place finish and an average of 223.0. Verstraete was 10th (219.8), Breedlove finished 33rd (205.8), Hartzler was 41st (203.0) and Martin rounded out the group with a 195.4 average.
Up next, the Huskers travel to Arlington, Texas, on Friday, Jan. 26 through Sunday, Jan. 28, for the Prairie View A&M Invite.
