MILLSBORO, Delaware — National Tenpin Coaches Association No. 14 University of Maryland Eastern Shore opened and closed strong on Day 2 at the Hawk Classic. But it was the two matches in the middle that dropped them out of contention for an event title and left them in eighth place headed into Sunday bracket play.
"Transitions were very different throughout the day," Hawks head coach Roger Petrin said. "We approached it a little bit differently too. Obviously the first set was really good. Every team played it different to start and I think we hit a pair that some teams were doing something completely different than we were and it. We got off to a slow and shaky start there and took too long to find it."
The Hawks (30-12, 6-2 MEAC) opened with a 994-818 position round win against No. 11 Mount St. Mary's bright and early on Saturday (Nov. 19). But things swung quickly in the wrong direction as they followed that up with a pair of losses to No. 9 Youngstown (908-823) and No. 16 Sacred Heart (883-848).
"Really we just didn't grind our way through," Petrin said. "We missed some spares while we were trying to figure it out and that's a recipe for an 820. Ultimately, it's not about the lanes it's about how we approach it throughout the day. We got kind of mentally tired in those two middle sets and had to make a call and change the entire lineup essentially. I subbed in three different people for the last two sets. That's when we had some fresher minds that were ready to take a mental beating and it helped in the latter half of the day for sure."
Brooke Driver (Woodbridge, Virginia), Mariana Santos (Jumandi, Colombia) and Alexis Ingersoll (Fulton, New York) were the late additions to the lineup.
The trio contributed to the 928-797 win against St Francis-Brooklyn and the 972-869 final victory against No. 17 Tulane.
The team will spend the evening having a good team dinner, doing some activities and clearing their heads for Sunday, but Petrin expected the approach to be very similar to Saturday.
"What we did this morning was fine," Petrin said. "We are just going to approach it the same way. We have been good on the fresh. Let's continue knowing that we are good on the fresh and look for better execution. There is no secret. The lanes are hard. It's just shot making and the girls understand that."
Senior Elizabeth Ross (Schenectady, New York) had a very strong day for the lane conditions with a five-game average of 202.4
Competition begins at 8:25 am on Sunday and will feature three best-of-seven Baker matches and the Hawks will face seventh-seeded Duquesne to start the morning.
