Arlington, TX – The Fayetteville State University Women's Bowling program made its presence known at the NCAA Bowling Arlington Regionals after pushing Prairie View A&M University to a tiebreaker match during the play-in round at the International Training and Research Center (ITRC). PVAMU advances to face no. 1 seed McKendree with a 4-1 victory.
Fayetteville State, the CIAA Champions went head-to-head against the 2023 SWAC Champions. In the five-game traditional pinfall match, Prairie View captured the first victory, 936-898.
Denise Brown bowled a 197 with
Cecilia Chafin trailing one pin behind at 196. Erika Reed ranked third in the match among the Broncos with a 182.
In the five-game Baker total pinfall match, Fayetteville State won 998-896 to send the competition to the best-of-seven tiebreaker scenario.
"We were bowling great," said Head Coach Robert Henderson. "We actually put the ball in the same spots, we just didn't get the same breaks. I thought they bowled very outstandingly, I am very proud of them, and we have nothing to be ashamed of. We did something that no CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) team we know of have been here and done, so we had nothing to lose."
"This is the first year since I've been here [NCAA Regionals] since 2007. It was a learning experience, so we have something to build upon for next year."
Fayetteville State University will graduate two seniors with graduate student
Angel Pope and
Cecilia Chafin. The Broncos will return four of the six All-CIAA performers next season. Freshman
Paige Rockwell finished the regular season with the CIAA's second-highest average of 185.93 pins from 29 games (5,392 pins). Sophomore
Denise Brown ranks sixth in the conference with 4,932 pins and an average of 170.07 pins from 29 games. Rookies Erika Reed and
Jayda Gignac closed out the All-Conference Team at ninth and tenth. Reed knocked down 3,941 pins in 24 games for an average of 164.21. She has the same high game as teammate Chafin with 235. Gignac has 3,876 pins and a 161.50 average from 24 games.
