The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Bowling Opens 2014-15 Season This Weekend
10/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Bowling
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB bowling team will open its 2014-15 season this weekend at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Bowling Invitational in Kenner, La. The tournament will be held at the AMF All Star Lanes from Friday, Oct. 17-Sunday, Oct. 19.
UAB will be among 13 teams competing, which includes four teams ranked in the preseason top 20. The field includes tournament host Tulane, Alabama A&M, No. 18 Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M, Jackson State, Louisiana Tech, No. 3 Sam Houston State, Southern, No. 9 Stephen F. Austin, Texas Southern and No. 4 Vanderbilt.
“This is the most excited I've been since the first year of the program,” said head coach Michelle Crews. “We have a very talented team and I'm so excited to see how the weekend unfolds. We received votes in the preseason poll, which is the first time in school history so we are going in the right direction.”
The tournament will begin on Friday with the 5x5 Baker game matches starting at 9:25 a.m. CT. The traditional team games will be held on Saturday starting at 8:55 a.m., and then the final round of the Best of Seven Baker matches will start at 8:55 a.m. on Sunday.
This year will mark the fourth year as a program for UAB. Marissa Ferreira, Qituwrah King, Ali Long, Jennafer Mellott and Leah Walker have all been with the bowling program since its inception. The Blazers will also have returners Lauren Douglas and Bailey James who saw action as freshmen.
Ferreira is the top returner for UAB after averaging a 180.1 last season with a total pinfall of 5,223 in 29 games.
The Blazers also added four newcomers for the 2014-15 season, with three freshmen and one transfer. Sophomore Madeleine McDuff joins the team as a transfer from last season’s national champion Sam Houston State.
Crews added a highly touted group of freshmen as well with Jessica Mellott, Amy Quick and Shana Taulbee.
