Jan. 31, 2016
Photo Gallery 
ARLINGTON, Texas- The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) bowling team ended the first day of the Prairie View A&M Invitational in fifth after holding their own with the best in the nation in Baker matches. Over the next two days, the team succeeded in the individual rounds with four wins in six, but struggled in bracket play by dropping both matches.
With a 6-6 record and a total pinfall of 13,120 for the weekend, the team finished the tournament in eighth place.
Senior Thashaina Seraus (Oranjestad, Aruba) led the way in individuals for the Hawks, ultimately finishing fourth in the field with a total pinfall of 1,330. Freshman Jacqueline Rhoda (Portage, Indiana) also finished in the top ten, knocking down 1,264 pins to come in seventh.
Sophomore Jalesa Johnson (Delmar, Delaware) and freshman Danielle August (Mililani, Hawaii) also started all six games for the Hawks, with each finishing with a series in the low 1000's.
Day two started out a bit sluggish, as the Hawks fell in consecutive matches to Stephen F. Austin and Nebraska. The loss to the Lumberjacks came in spite of four UMES players bowling in the 200's. However, that all turned around when the Hawks faced the Aggies of North Carolina A&T, as Seraus bowled a 268 and the team rolled, 1066-891.
In the next game against Monmouth, Seraus led the team with a 244 and sophomore Melanie Copey (Ontario, New York) bowled a 235 as the team won its second in a row with a Saturday high of 1,094 pins as a team. UMES closed out the day with its third win in a row, beating Texas Southern by a final score of 1,051-936.
The last individual matchup took place on Sunday morning and the Hawks continued their winning streak with a 921-809 victory over the host Prairie View A&M, securing a fifth place seed for UMES entering the bracket play.
Unfortunately for the Hawks the brackets didn't play out quite like they wanted to. Monmouth would get their revenge by winning over UMES in five games. Then the BearKats of Sam Houston State would defeat the Hawks in six, dropping the team to eighth for the day.
Nebraska won the tournament with Arkansas State coming in second. North Carolina A&T, the only other MEAC competitor at the event, finished in fifth while the hosts, Prairie View A&M, came in 10th.
The team will now take a brief three week reprieve before the final MEAC Northern Division meet of the season. UMES will host the event at Millsboro Lanes in late February.
