ROCKAWAY, New Jersey — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore will begin defense of their Cougar Classic Championship from last season in Friday (Oct. 25) morning.
Just one week removed from kicking off the season in Louisiana, Eastern Shore (10-3) will face a 12-team field at Rockaway Lanes in Rockaway, New Jersey.
"I think that after the first day last week, we found success in focusing on getting nine-or-better on the first shot because we saw that the single-pin percentages were pretty high," Hawks coach
Kayla Bandy said. "This week in practice, we have been working on managing the pocket a little bit better, finding ball motion that allows us to get matter better."
Chloe Skurzynski (Carlisle, Pennsylvania),
Brigitte Jacobs (Freeport, Illinois) and
Alejandra Amezcua (Baja California, Mexico) led the way for the Hawks last week with Jacobs bowling leadoff and Amezcua and Skurzynski in the four and five-holes.
"This year, I'm looking to build a consistent lineup so that the girls kind of know where they need to be in the lineup," Bandy said. "This weekend we'll see of those who were successful in spots last weekend can maintain that level of success."
The Shore — No. 7 in the National Tenpins Coaches Association Preseason Poll — won the Caldwell University home event last season with bracket victories against Delaware State and Saint Francis University.
Cayla Hicks (Salem, Virginia) was on the All-Tournament team.
"Last year, we opened the season with this event and we won a trophy, which was the start of good things happening," Bandy said. "The girls go in knowing they were successful at the same tournament last year."
Last week's Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Invitational was the first college competition for the Hawks three freshmen Amezcua,
Brooke Roberts (Port Orange, Florida) and
Morgan Cooper, Gloucester Point, Virginia).
"The first day a lot of the nerves had to come out, so going into this event they have one tournament under their belt and I expect for them to hit the ground running when they get there because now they know what the atmosphere is all about," Bandy said.
The field in Rockaway includes: No. 25 Monmouth, No. 22 Adelphi University, Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, No. 9 Fairleigh Dickinson University, Felician University, Long Island University, Molloy College, New Jersey City University and No. 11 Sacred Heart University.
Bandy expects the overall scores to be higher this week than last week because the oil pattern will be an easier one this week.
"We can't go into it expecting wins to just come, because the scoring pace will be higher," Bandy said.
