WAYNESBORO, Pa. – Coppin State's
Kaylah Castillo finished fourth overall in the individual standings to earn All-Tournament Team honors as the Eagles' bowling team finished third at the Mount St. Mary's Shootout over the weekend at Sunshine Lanes. CSU finished the weekend 6-4 overall with 8,736 total pins to average 174.7 per game.
Castillo totaled 975 pins in five traditional matches to average a 195.00 on Saturday which included a career-high 246 against Delaware State in the finale. A fifth-year student from Orlando, Fla., Castillo also rolled a 212 in a win over Pitt.-Greensburg and a 190 against the host Mountaineers. Castillo averaged an 18.98 per frame for the weekend, recording an 8.89 on first balls and converting on 83.3% of her spare attempts.
In traditional matches on Saturday, Coppin went 3-2, falling just short against nationally ranked Mount St. Mary's and Delaware State while posting blowout wins over Pitt.-Greensburg, Howard and Felician. On Sunday, Coppin avenged its loss to the Hornets with a 933-888 win to open Baker play. They came right back with a win over Felician and Pitt but dropped matches to Howard and the host Mountaineers.
"We were not completely satisfied with our play on Saturday," said head coach
Shaunita Middleton. "We got off to a slow start, and then with that close loss to DSU in the last match, we knew we needed to regroup and concentrate on our spares, which is what hurt us the most on Saturday."
"Sunday, we understood if we were going to have any chance at beating Delaware State, our first game of the 5-game total pin baker match had to be strong with no room for errors, and that is exactly what the team did. Everyone stepped up, closed every frame and put together consecutive strikes that gave us the edge and we never looked back."
"Unfortunately, our energy took a hit throughout the next three matches and uncharacteristic mistakes came into play which kept our scores down. The end of the day was just as exciting as the beginning. With the last match against Mount St. Mary's, we took advantage of finishing strong in those games where they struggled score wise. The first two games kept the pin count close and then they pulled away in the third game. As we went into the fourth game down by 50, I said to the team, 'I hope you did not think they were just going to hand you the game. You need to step on the lanes and go take it.' It ignited a fire as we won the next match, 221-193 and cut their lead in half. But our push fell short as a few splits stifled our chances and we lost total pins by 42."
TaVera Johnson averaged a 183.25 in her four matches on Saturday, opening her day with a 186 against the Panthers before tallying back-to-back 200+ games against Howard (206) and Felician (202). A sophomore from Millersville, Md., Johnson led the Eagles with a 19.22 average per frame, 9.05 average first ball and 55.0 strike percentage.
The reigning MEAC Rookie of the Week,
Elizabeth Stokley knocked down 679 pins over her four matches, averaging out to 169.75 per frame. The Elizabeth City, N.C., native had a high of 201 in Coppin's win over Felician.
Xiani Carpenter posted the highest average (196.00) of any Eagles player in her two games as she rolled a 233 in a narrow loss to Delaware State.
Logan Brown and
Temira White both competed in three traditional matches, posting averages of 170.67 and 156.33, respectively while
Janaye Monroe and
Jalyne Myers accumulated two-game averages of 170.50 and 163.50.
Saturday's Results (Traditional)
Mount St. Mary's L, 943-877
Pitt.-Greensburg W, 920-790
Howard W, 847-774
Felician W, 881-725
Delaware State L, 917-903
Sunday's Results (Baker)
Delaware State W, 933-888
Felician W, 796-730
Howard L, 825-807
Pitt.-Greensburg W, 872-726
Mount St. Mary's L, 942-900
Up Next: Coppin will be of the next two weekends before taking part at the Virginia Union Invitational in Midlothian, Va., on November 4-6. This will serve as the final tune-up before the first MEAC Meet on November 11-12.
