The Alabama State University bowling team will open their season in New Orleans, La., as the Tulane University Green Wave will be the host team during the Allstate Sugar Bowl Bowling Invitational. The three day tournament will be held at the AMF All Star Lanes, the first roll is set for 10 a.m. CT Friday.
"I am very excited about participating in the tournament, "said head coach Andrew Chatmon. "There are going to be a couple of high ranked teams and I think that we have a good chance to win. We just have to make sure that we stay focused and compete with the best of our abilities."
The Invitational will feature at least 10 schools to including four nationally ranked programs. Sam Houston State (ranked sixth in the preseason NTCA), while Stephen F. Austin (ranked 9th), Prairie View A&M (ranked 19th) and Bethune-Cookman (ranked 20th)have also received preseason rankings. Other schools that are participating will be Florida A&M, Jackson State, Louisiana Tech, and Texas Southern.
""I am very comfortable with the team that we have coming into the 2013-14 season," said Chatmon. "The girls have been practicing real hard and have been putting in a lot of work. We have a smaller team but I believe that this will be a good preseason test for us."
The Lady Hornets are returning five players from last season's team and has one transfer and one freshman to make up its seven player squad. There are two seniors (Brianna Wells and Jessica Ledbetter), one junior (Danielle Walker), two sophomores (Kayla Ryan and Andranice Collins). The two new additions are freshman Rebecca Hresko and transfer L'Neisha Porter (sophomore).
Ryan, 2013 SWAC Freshman of the Year, is the team's top returner posting 196 pins per game average. She was followed by Walker who was the 2012 SWAC Freshman of the Year. Walker averaged a 189 per pin count even with a sprained wrist. Overall the Lady Hornets finished 50-60 on the season and 15-9 in conference play.
The format for this weekend's action is as follows:
In the Baker format, starting members of the competing teams will successively and, in regular order, bowl one frame on one lane. Once five frames are completed, the team members will remain on the same lane and complete the starting member order again, with frames six through 10 being completed. This pattern of play will continue until all 10 frames of a game are completed. No changes can be made in the order of players after the start of a game, except for substitutes, although once a bowler has been pulled from the game they are not allowed to return until the next game.
The teams will then square off on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. CT with five team games.
In the five-person team game, starting members of the competing teams will successively and, in regular order, bowl one frame on one lane. Once completed, the team members shall move to the alternate lane of the competition pair. This pattern of play continues until all 10 frames of a game are complete. The same substitution rules as Baker will apply.
The tournament concludes Sunday with the teams rolling at 8:30 a.m. CT. The tournament, consisting of the Best 4-of-7 Baker matches, will determine the champion. The 10 teams will be seeded based on the performance on Friday and Saturday.
Following this weekend's tournament, the Lady Hornets will return to the hardwood on November 1 for the Texas Southern Invite in Houston, Texas.
GO HORNETS
