HARAHAN, Louisiana — When the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Bowling squad kicks off the 2019-20 campaign on Friday (Oct. 18) at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Bowling Invitational, in Harahan, Louisiana the location won't be lost on the team's two seniors.

Cayla Hicks (Salem, Virginia) and Brigitte Jacobs (Freeport, Illinois) haven't competed in the Pelican State since the 2016-17 season when they were freshman on a squad that lost a gut wrenching 4-3 match to Nebraska in the NCAA Championship quarterfinals in Baton Rouge.

Their freshman season ended days later at the same lanes with a loss in the USBC Championships.

Now, coming off a run to the NCAA semifinals last season, the duo knows this is the last chance to win the elusive title they seek — and they'll begin their last year where the first one ended.

"The third time is the charm," Hicks said. "No one expected us to do what we did last year. We didn't even really expect us to do what we did last year. We looked around and there were only three other teams left. But we should be there and I think it's good that we saw that reality."

The duo — who have been connected since the arrived on campus — were both named first-team All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference last season and begin this season on the preseason squad. As freshmen they formed a bond that also just so happened to include pushing one another to be at their best.

"I feel like healthy competition is what makes you a better team," Jacobs said. "Cayla and I have done that since we got here. I think that is why we are able to work together so well when we are actually competing. We want to beat each other, but we know there is one goal, so that healthy competition makes us better for the team. I know they see what we do because our teammates make comments about it all the time, but I hope they can see that its beneficial to what we are trying to do as a team."

Both have seen their roles evolve over the years and now find themselves the veteran leaders. What they experienced over three up and down seasons had given them the insight to offer advice, to encourage and when necessary say what might be difficult for the good of the team.
That role seems to fall to Jacobs who became more vocal midway through her junior season. That's something she said she has wanted to do since she arrived on campus, but early on was afraid nobody would take a freshman seriously.

"Some people responded well others didn't," Jacobs said. "I feel like this year I can tell someone 'you need to figure it out' and they are going to understand it's in the best interest of all of us. I'm not saying it to be mean. I'm not saying it to hurt your feelings. I'm saying it because I want to win and I would think that you would want to win too."

With five key pieces back from last year's squad, winning is just what they have in mind.

Junior Paulina Torres (Ponce, Puerto Rico) is the Hawks' only other upperclassman, and she is coming off a fantastic summer where she finished second in the singles competition at the PABCON Youth Championships and helped lead Team Puerto Rico to an overall silver medal.

"She is throwing the ball really well right now and she has definitely stepped up as an upperclassman," Hicks said. "You can see the confidence in her more so now. She doesn't feel like the young one on the team."

The team also returns a pair of sophomores in Isabel Hughes (Raleigh, North Carolina) and Chloe Skurzynzki (Carlisle, Pennsylvania). Hughes made huge strides during her freshman campaign and make big contributions in the postseason. Skurzynski joined the team for the second semester and was nothing short of a phenomenon winning Most Outstanding Performer at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship and qualifying for USBC Singles Championship.

"I think for Isabel and Chloe, it will take time to completely get there, but you can see how their mindset has changed," Hicks said. "They are in harder classes now and they have to be more mature with school, so it's kind of like translating that on the lanes too. I feel like everyone has matured a lot."

What is also not lost on this year's seniors is that the team made last year's postseason run with just one of three seniors bowling consistently in the lineup. They can look across the lanes at practice now and know that the team has more depth to push one another every day.

After returning all but one of the group's core starters from a season ago, head coach Kayla Bandy added three talented freshmen to replace a trio of departed seniors.

Brooke Roberts (Port Orange, Florida), Alejandra Amezcua (Bajo California, Mexico) and Morgan Cooper (Gloucester Point, Virginia) have immediately found their place in this year's team dynamic. But this first competition will put their comfort to the test.

"Obviously the freshmen don't really know entirely what to expect," Hicks said. "But I think we have tried to explain to them as best we can until you are in that environment. In practice, we try to do our cheers some and make it like the environment the best we can.

"It will more just be acclimating them the first day, so that they get comfortable and they are not nervous and then doing what we do best. I think it is going to start our trusting process. The freshmen being able to trust that we know what we are talking about making moves on the lanes and stuff and everyone figuring out who their person is in the lineup so that we can get the chemistry going better."

While everything until this week has been done in a simulated competition environment in the friendly confines of the Bowling Center or Millsboro Lanes, the young Hawks have shown a fire and an ability that promises a bright future.

"Bringing in the people that know how to compete has been great," Jacobs said. "Brooke, for example, has so many accolades from the state of Florida. I think this freshman class is going to bowl more than any that we have had recently because of their experience and where they have been before they ever got to campus."

That says a lot considering Jacobs herself and Hicks were thrust into bowling 1,884 frames combined in their first year.

With just this one season left to leave their mark on the program, Hicks and Jacobs looks for the five underclassmen to be one link to their legacy. Right now the chemistry is great on an off the lanes, but adversity will be the test of the team bond.

"That is what coach is trying to instill in them," Hicks said. "You are going to miss a spare, but you have to realize that your teammates are going to pick you up. You can't be disappointed in yourself and think that they are not going to be there behind you. That's not the whole point of the team environment."

The Shore departed campus on Wednesday to fly south and took the day on Thursday to recharge and do some exploration around New Orleans before three days of competition.

"The freshman keep taking about how excited they are. I haven't experienced that except for us," Hicks said. "We were always ready to go. They are all three super excited and ready to go all the time. They just want to compete.

"It is really refreshing to see that in new people."

The event — hosted by NTCA Preseason No. 14 Tulane at Colonial Lanes — will feature some stuff competition including No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 2 Stephen F. Austin,  No. 5 Sam Houston State, No. 8 North Carolina A&T State, No. 13 Lincoln Memorial, No. 17 Louisiana Tech and No. 19 University of Alabama-Birmingham.

The entire tournament will be scratch and will be based on match wins and losses. Teams will compete in five, five-game baker matches on Friday, Oct. 18, followed by five traditional game matches on Saturday, Oct. 19. The teams will then be seeded based on total pins for the bracket round on Sunday, Oct. 20, which will be three baker best 4 out of 7 games. Final positions will be determined after the bracket results.