Nov. 14, 2007

Charlotte, NC - The Fayetteville State University Lady Broncos avenged their quarter final loss to St. Paul's College with back to back victories to capture the 2007 CIAA Women's Bowling Championship.

In the third and final day of the tournament held at University AMF Lanes in Charlotte, NC, St. Augustine's College, Elizabeth City State University, Virginia State University, and Bowie State University all fell short of the championship round and were eliminated.

The Lady Broncos lost earlier in the day, ironically to St. Paul's (4-2) in the quarter finals. The win gave the Lady Tigers a bye into the championship round and sent FSU into the loser's bracket to battle their way to the finals.

The defending champion Bowie State Lady Bulldogs were eliminated by Fayetteville State (4-1) in the semi finals ending their two year reign. Fayetteville State defeated St. Paul's (4-0) in the first of two losses for the Lady Tigers. The tournament was a baker match double elimination; since SPC went unbeaten all the way to the finals, FSU would have to beat them twice. Fayetteville State won the second match up (4-1) to give them their first CIAA Championship.

All-conference selection Jessica Donnelly, who was voted the tournament's MVP, is averaging 191.1 tops in the Western Division. Freshmen Danielle Fesco and Akira Turner were also CIAA all-conference selections. Fesco, a native of Redford, MI, finished with a tournament high average of 183. Turner, a computer science major hailing from Detroit, MI, was also impressive finishing with a 173 average.

Coach Henderson and the Lady Broncos will not know if they will receive a bid to the NCAA Division I, II Bowling Regional until March when the second half of the bowling season comes to an end. The Lady Broncos are currently ranked 15th in the nation. The poll is conducted monthly by the National Tenpin Bowling Association.

The Lady Broncos finished the regular season with a 59-1 record and 44-1 in the CIAA, the only loss coming in the CIAA 7th Annual East-West Bowling Tournament.

A complete list of Tuesday results is as follows:

Quarter finals
#4 St. Pauls' College def. #1 Fayetteville State University (4-2)
#3 Virginia State University def. #6 St. Augustine's College (4-1-1)
#2 Bowie State University def. #5 Elizabeth City State University (4-3)

Semi finals
#2 Bowie State University def. #3 Virginia State University (4-1)
#1 Fayetteville State University def. #2 Bowie State University (4-1)

Finals
#1 Fayetteville State University def. #4 St. Paul's College (4-0)
#1 Fayetteville State University def. #4 St. Paul's College (4-1)

2007 Tournament MVP - Jessica Donnelly