The SNU Men's and Women's Teams were back in action after the holiday break at SWIBC #5 and #6 at Plano Super Bowl in Plano, Texas.
Highlights of the action in SWIBC V included at second place finish by the SNU Women's Team anchored by Freshman Sienna Stoner who averaged 217.6 for the five individual games and earned her fourth All Tournament Team award of the season.
"What Sienna has done this season is so impressive," said Coach Jeffreys. "To earn four All Tournament Team awards says so much about the talent Sienna showcases at our events. Sienna continues to increase here ability to adapt to changing lane conditions and is starting to understand the challenge of getting matched up and having the confidence in her equipment. It's pretty cool to have such a talented player in this program."
"It has been fantastic to see the progress made in Makena Cruz's game", said Jeffreys. "The freshman averaged 180 and fought through some adversity of an injured thumb to have here best weekend of the season. Makena has been working very hard on her game and it showed this weekend in Plano. Just a solid event for Makena."
The Men's Team finished a solid third behind Newman University and the Number One Ranked Team in the Nation, Wichita State.
Highlights of the Men's Team action included Canon Estes' effort to gain perfection in Game #5 of individual team play started with the first 10 and went on to earn 286 of which is the SNU Men's Team High Game during the 2023-2024 season. Estes averaged 222.4 and finished 8th in the individual player standings.
Also making his SNU Men's Team Tournament debut, Landen Hodge executed a solid performance for the Crimson Storm averaging 214.4 during the event.
"This was our first event after the holiday break and there were some signs of rust," said Coach Jeffreys. "The great news was the advancements in our performance during the event. Freshman Canon Estes showcased his best effort of the season and made really good moves during the transition. The game is so based on getting equipment matched up with the lanes and Canon did a great job on Saturday getting matched up."
"All five starters demonstrated a fantastic effort during the five games of individual play. As the day progressed, the challenge of transition became so important during Baker play and we ran into some challenges getting matched up. The experience of this event gave us progression toward having answers the next time we experience this type of lane conditions. Still, to earn a third place finish is a great step in working toward sectionals in March. "
"It's great to have some experience in the lineup with the presence of Sophomore, Landen Hodge. This was Landen's first college event since becoming eligible for action after being picked up in the portal. He brings a ton of insight and is a big part of this team and this program."
RESULTS FOR SWIBC V
On Sunday January 21st, 2024, the Crimson Storm Men's and Women's Teams were in action for SWIBC VI. The lane pattern for both the Men and the Women was different from the previous day. A 47ft 4:1 ratio lane pattern of which was the longest lane pattern of the season.
The Men's Team battled from Game 1 until the final frame of Game 7. The Crimson Storm ended up in a heated contest against Kansas Wesleyan University for Third Place and the hardware. Kansas Wesleyan rallied in Game 6 with 1,043 while SNU struggled to 983 Game 6, which resulted in a 6 pin 3rd place lead for KWU over the Crimson Storm headed into Game 7.
"This was quite the development all day for the Men's Team," said Coach Jeffreys. "Once again, the minimal experience on this type of lane pattern calls for a quick learning curve. We just did not have the equipment to match up with the changing lane conditions but, the drive and creativeness by this team to overcome equipment adversity was fun to watch. They battled until the final frame and fell 24 pins short of 3rd place. The moves that were made by Landen Hodge, David Swavely and Connor Anderson were so creative and were a result of the communication between all the team members. It's really cool to see how well this team works together to overcome adversity. We had a chance but, the experience was valuable for the future, even if we did not move up the standings."
Game 7 for KWU was 1,029 while the Crimson Storm came up short with 1,012.
Freshman, Connor Anderson continued his torrid pace during the 2023-2024 season averaging 209.1 for seven games on Sunday. Anderson entered the weekend in Plano as the #5 Freshman in the Nation, averaging 205.8.
The SNU Women's Team found the 47ft lane pattern very challenging. Trying to back up their 2nd Place Finish at SWIBC V, the Crimson Storm struggled to a 5th Place Finish.
"Longer lane patterns are very challenging for low rev, low speed players," said Coach Jeffreys. "It is very demanding to bowl back to back events on back to back days and being the first event after break, the physical demands of back to back events took it's toll. Right now, this team relies on patterns that have friction and when the friction is minimal, it becomes very challenging for our team. More reps during practice on low friction patterns will help this team develop a game plan and learn adjustments that need to be made during low friction events. The opportunity to improve is present, now we have to improve, execute and learn from the experiences of our year one events."
Even with the challenging lane patterns, two players, Sienna Stoner and Makena Cruz continued to improve during SWIBC VI. Stoner entered the Plano event the #8 Ranked Freshman in the Nation averaging 184.76, and should move up in the rankings averaging 208.75 for the weekend in Plano. Cruz earned her best tournament weekend of the season, averaging 180.66 for the weekend.
The SNU Men and Women will be in action January 27th and 28th at the Eagle Invitational in Kansas City, Missouri. LIVE Streaming will be available on snubowling.com beginning on Saturday around 9:00am Central Time.
RESULTS FOR SWIBC VI
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