PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore had a much more relaxed practice than normal on Tuesday, following a marathon of weekend bowling that brought a berth in the United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Team Championships.
Monday was an important day off, but head coach Roger Petrin was left knowing that his team would need some time on the lanes the following day with a trip to the Music City Classic — the last regular season event of the year — looming this weekend.
The answer for the National Tenpin Coaches Association No. 10 Hawks (66-37, 10-6 MEAC) was to get the team throwing shots, but make it more of a fun competition to transition into preparation for hitting the road again.
"It definitely took its toll on a lot of us," senior Brook Roberts (Port Orange, Florida) said. "I could tell that at the end of the weekend, at the airport and driving back. We were just out mentally. I only got about three hours of sleep when we got back because I had to get up for class."
Music City will mark the last regular structured competition of the season, so there is familiarity there, particularly following such an anomaly as the USBC Sectional, but it would be difficult to say that this event isn't more important than one earlier in the season. And that's mainly just about the timing.
"I don't think there is a different mental preparation," Roberts said. "I think we stay the same throughout the whole time. I think we have been trying to get better and working on spare shooting every single week. It's just the same mentality going into each tournament. Last year we finished this event in fifth place. This year, we want to stay up there so we build some momentum when it comes time to hand out NCAA Championship bids.
"Hopefully, we won't have to worry about that because we win the MEAC Championship, but you want momentum going into the postseason."
Senior Elizabeth Ross (Schenectady, New York) also feels like the team is preparing much the same as they do for each event, but maybe with a little more emphasis on "clearing the mind" and resetting as they approach postseason play the following weekend. The fact that they already know they have made the USBC field takes some of the postseason pressure off, but she said at the same time they want more.
"We are so peaking at the right time right now," Ross said. "We are amped and ready."
While this is not a postseason event, it has the feel already. The players all seem to feel a little differently than last year at this time. There is more of a buzz around the squad compared to last season and a quiet confidence that they didn't have at this time last season.
"Last year nobody had bowled in the postseason except Paulina (Torres), our senior," Ross said. "This year most of us are familiar with what MEAC Championships is going to look like, we have good team chemistry and we can rely on each other to make shots and keep each other up. We were so relaxed at sectionals. We knew we were going to make our shots on line. We knew we were going to make our spares and we had confidence that was different than last year. I feel like last year we forced it."
That confidence comes from a familiarity and trust in one another that was the biggest hurdle last season with a small inexperienced roster coming off a year away from the lanes and a new coach.
"I think that we can see all the progress that we have made since the beginning of last year," Senior Alejandra Amezcua (Baja California, Mexico) said. "I think we are all comfortable and in a place where we trust each other. If anyone misses a spare or something, we know that we are going to back them up and just be there and support each other.
"I think that comes from us all being comfortable with our shots — trusting ourselves — and now we can give that to everyone else. Also a big part of the progress has been communication and communicating everything we are seeing on the lanes and also how we are feeling."
Competition will begin on Friday (March 17) morning with five team Baker games.
