CHESAPEAKE, Virginia — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore picked up a 2-0 victory against Delaware State University in the second round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship on Friday afternoon at AMF Chesapeake Lanes. The Hawks will now face North Carolina A&T State in winner's bracket action on Saturday (March 23) at 2 p.m.

The winner of that battle will move on to Sunday's Championship match, while the other will have to continue to battle, facing the winner of the consolation bracket semifinal at 8 a.m. Sunday morning for the opportunity to advance to the championship.

"I would say that we did not get started at our best ability, however, the girls worked really well as a team as far as catching doubles to gain some momentum," Hawks coach Kayla Bandy said. "They made their spares which is always good to keep the energy flowing."

The day started off with a bit of a bad omen as Cayla Hicks (Salem, Virginia) — the MEAC Player of the Year — saw her wrist brace break right after practice was over. That left Bandy with a decision to make and she had to go to her bench rather than start the junior.

"I was really impressed with how the girls handled that controlled chaos if you will of the brace breaking. We have eight people on the this team for a reason and any one can step up," Bandy said. "So I had no intention of starting Isabel based on what she had in practice on this pattern, but she was close to the pocket and I knew she could fill a box."

She did more than just that opening the traditional match with four straight strikes before faltering a big in the middle frames and finishing with a 207.
"She was incredible for us in that match," Bandy said. "She helped carry us through the traditional match."

Senior Alexandra Hernandez (Maracaibo, Venezuela) put up a 217, junior Brigitte Jacobs (Freeport, Illinois) had a 214, and freshman Chloe Skurzynski (Carlisle, Pennsylvania) added a 181. The Hawks won with a total pinfall of 978-824.

When the two teams moved on to Baker competition, the Hawks started out with a 191-176 advantage after one game and pushed it to 363-339 after two. They the time the third game was over the Hawks led by 76 pins (594-518).

But Bandy knew the Hornets weren't done and she began to get a little concerned late in the day as the oil pattern on the lanes began to deteriorate.
"You have to be careful when you play a team like Delaware State and you have to know each team's strength," Bandy said. "Delaware State's strength is when friction begins to develop. You have to come out. With a bang an  take care of business early in the match. I didn't feel like we took care of business early enough in that match. We went 992 and we left tons of pins out there the first two games that we shouldn't have."

Delaware State pulled out a 237 in the next game and cut the Hawks' lead to just 20 (775-755) heading into the fifth and final game. But The Shore responded with a 217 despite the fact that Bandy said she didn't feel like the team was entirely comfortable on the lanes and won 992-950.

"They just made good shots," she said. "I'm really impressed with that last game."

Hernandez put together a completely clean day filling all frames through the entire day, while Skurzynski had two and Jacobs and Hughes had just three opens apiece.

"Basically Alexandra was our MVP of that match and Isabel was close behind," Bandy said. "And Brigitte  is really starting to understand what it takes to bowl in the anchor position to deliver a good shot when we need it."

At the same time, North Carolina A&T State – defending tournament champion and the No. 2 seed – took on Monmouth 1,008-1,003 win in traditional format and 979-863 in Baker.

In the morning session, No. 3 seed Delaware State made quick work of No. 6 seed Howard, defeating the Bison 2-0 in the Mega Match format.

Associate members UAB and Monmouth, the No. 4 and 5 seeds, locked horns in the opening round in a match that went the full three formats. The Baker best-of-seven game, was tied at 3-3 before Monmouth recorded two strikes at the end of the seventh to take the match 2-1.

Howard will open Saturday's action at 9 a.m. against Monmouth in the elimination bracket, while UAB will take on Delaware State. The winners of those two matches will meet at 2 p.m. in another elimination match.