Greensboro, N.C. - The No. 6 Nebraska bowling team completed day two of the NCATSU Stallings Invitational, finishing match play with a 6-4 record, securing the sixth overall seed for Sunday’s championship bracket.
The Huskers opened day two with a ranked match against No. 3 Arkansas State. Marissa Cosentini led the way for NU with 228 pins. Alexis Buchert provided a 194 and Brenna Hartzler followed close behind with 183. Jillian Martin (176) and Kayla Verstraete (175) rounded out the Big Red, but it was not enough as the Red Wolves topped NU, 993-856.
NU bounced back against Texas Southern in the second match of the day. The Huskers kept the same lineup and two out of five shot above 200. Hartzler led the Big Red with 225 followed closely by Verstraete (214). Buchert (181), Cosentini (180) and Martin (177) closed out the Huskers as they defeated TSU, 977-833 and improved to 5-2 on the weekend.
Up next, the Big Red met No. 4 NCAT in the team’s second Top 5 matchup of the day. Verstraete paced Nebraska with a 224, followed by Hartzler with a 193. The other three Huskers finished not too far behind with Buchert (187), Martin (183) and Cosentini (177), but the Aggies shot a 1054 to top the Huskers’ 964.
In match four, the Huskers were tasked with another ranked matchup as they faced No. 5 Vanderbilt. Martin led the Huskers with a 190, but no Huskers shot over 200 as Hartzler (173), Cosentini (171), Buchert (170) and Verstraete (154) combined for a 858, but it was not enough as Vanderbilt rolled a 958.
In the final match of the day, Nebraska faced FAMU. Martin (225), Hartzler (217) and Cosentini (201) were the leaders for the Huskers in the last match of pool play. Buchert put together a solid showing, rolling a 197, followed by a 182 from Verstraete to defeat FAMU 1022-522 and finish pool play with a 6-4 record entering bracket play on Sunday.
The Big Red returns to the lanes tomorrow at 7:25 a.m. (CT) for Sunday’s championship bracket to conclude the tournament where each team will compete in three best 4-of-7 baker games for final placements and awards.
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