CHESAPEAKE, Va. – UMES came back from a 3-0 deficit to stun the No. 18 Norfolk State bowling team on Sunday afternoon during the championship match of the 2015 MEAC tournament. The ninth-ranked Hawks won each of the last four games in the best-of-seven Baker series for the 4-3 win at the AMF Lanes in Chesapeake.
 
The No. 6 seed Spartans made just their second-ever title match appearance. Against the tournament's top seed in No. 1 UMES, NSU came out solid and won the first game, 225-210. The Spartans then picked up two more wins in a row, 173-153 and then a narrow 180-177 victory.
 
But after defeating No. 2 seed North Carolina A&T once and No. 3 seed Delaware State twice on Saturday to advance to the championship, NSU was unable to close the deal against the Hawks. UMES began the closing stretch with a 189-182 victory in the fourth game, followed by a 167-156 triumph in the next one.
 
The Hawks tied the match with a 182-167 victory in the sixth game and then completed the comeback with a win in the seventh, 178-170.
 
Seniors Courtney Williford and Delilah Bethel were each named to the MEAC All-Tournament Team.
 
Barring a bid to the NCAA Championship, NSU saw its season come to a close at the MEAC tournament. It also closed the book on the careers of five Spartan seniors who arrived at NSU to lead the program to its first conference title in 2012.
 
Aside from Bethel and Williford, Courtney Brown, Ashley Buck and Kelsea Yarbrough also were a part of this year's senior class that won the MEAC Southern Division title three of its four seasons with the program.
 
Bethel led the Spartans this year with a 181.2 average in 30 games, the second-best average of her four-year career. She, junior Carrie Hickey and Yarbrough all finished with averages above 180. Yarbrough competed in 43 games and ended the year with a 180.7 average.
 
Brown played in a total of 16 traditional games her first two years but competed in 78 the last two, including in 40 games this year. She averaged 177.2. Buck closed out the season with a 173.3 average in 32 games, both career highs. Williford, meanwhile, took part in 12 games this year and averaged 168.5.
 
All five seniors were named to the MEAC All-Academic Team each of the last two years. Buck and Brown also earned recognition from the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) for their academic prowess at various points in their careers.
 
NSU finished the season with a 60-38 overall record, the fifth time in the past six years the Spartans have reached the 60-win plateau. Hickey and freshmen Briana Gardner and Meagan Marciano are the three currently active members of this year's team expected back for next season.