FT. MEADE, Maryland – The No. 18 University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks finished in second place in their latest outing at the James Brown Invitational.
With a field of seven teams, including MEAC schools Morgan State, Coppin State and Howard, the Hawks finished Day 1 in second place. UMES trailed only Sacred Heart by 33 total pins after the Hawks went 4-0 with an additional bye through the opening five Baker matches while totalling 4,727 total pins while all six bowlers for UMES helped the Hawks bolster their strong Day 1 start.
"I saw growth over the three days of competition," UMES head coach Ronald Simms said. "We did a lot of focusing on certain elements of our game in practice, and I saw that kick through this weekend. For us to bowl the way we did, filling frames and just staying together as a team communicating, a lot of growth. I like the direction we're headed in."
The Hawks began the first day with a bye while totalling 993 pins before running the table against Sacred Heart (955-907), Howard (929-659), Coppin State (916-887) and Morgan State (934-890) to head into the second day.
During the second day of competition on Saturday, the Hawks once again ran the table, 4-0, with another bye during five traditional matches. The Hawks opened Day 2 with a 865-710 win with Gabriella Ochoa Hubbard and Brooke Driver posting team-high scores of 220 and 203, respectively, in the match.
Against Sacred Heart in the Hawks' second match of Day 2 UMES earned a tightly contested 877-872 win with Ochoa leading with a 204 while Mariane Almeida, Mariana Santos Rivero and Driver each topped the 170-pin mark. The Hawks put up a total pinfall of 923 in their bye game with Santos Rivero hitting the 238-pin mark.
Rounding out Day 2, UMES beat Mount St. Mary's 935-863 and Howard 1,037-781. Ochoa paced the Hawks against Mount St. Mary's with a 202 while Santos Rivero and Almeida each posted a 197. Almeida bowled a team-best 246 in UMES' matchup against Howard while Santos Rivero hit 219, Aaliyah Friend 186, and Driver and Ochoa each posting a 193. Ara Pitts bowled through two of the traditional matches, posting a pinfall high of 168.
The Hawks entered championship Sunday in a tie for first place with Sacred Heart as both sides tied with a total pinfall of 9,365 after the first two days of competition. WIth a tie for first, UMES was pitted against Sacred Heart to open the day, though Sacred Heart took the best-of-seven series, 4-2.After dropping the first matchup of the day, the Hawks faced off with Mount St. Mary's with the opportunity to play in the championship matchup against Sacred Heart on the line. The Hawks took the matchup 4-2 to push themselves back into championship contention with a final showdown against Sacred Heart. However, in a rematch with Sacred Heart, UMES lost the final championship matchup 4-1.
"It's a blessing to have six ladies bowling now. So when someone is struggling, or someone can't find their way, I can sub them out, and it's a benefit and blessing to have that. That truly helped," Simm said. "But our girls did great all weekend. To go in as the No. 1 seed, unfortunately we bowled a tough Sacred Heart team. There's a reason they're ranked where they are in the nation, and they showed it. But that's the next step in our progression, to get to where they're at. But we made a huge step in that direction this weekend, and I'm excited."
For the tournament Ochoa and Santos Rivero each earned their place on the All-Tournament first team as Ochoa knocked down 1,004 through the individual matches with an average of 200.8 pins for the second best marks in the tournament while Santos Rivero notched the third highest pinfall total of 981 while averaging 196.2. Almeida earned her place on the All-Tournament second team after averaging 197.75 while bowling through four of the individual matches and totalling 791 pins through that time.
The Hawks will be back in action next at the MEAC No. 2 tournament in Dover, Delaware, on February 22 and 23.
