CHESAPEAKE, Va. – The Norfolk State bowling team started off strong on Saturday during the bracket round of the 2018 MEAC Championship. North Carolina A&T, however, had enough in the tank to knock the Spartans out of the tournament during day 2 of the championship.
No. 25 ranked NSU defeated both Florida A&M and N.C. A&T to start the day at the AMF Lanes in Chesapeake, setting the Spartans up well. The 18
th-ranked Aggies eventually defeated the Spartans twice later in the afternoon to advance to Sunday's championship match.
Norfolk State came into the day as the No. 4 seed after Friday's qualifying round. That gave the Spartans a first-round matchup on Saturday morning against No. 5 seed Florida A&M. In a best-of-seven Baker format, the Spartans came away with a 4-2 victory after winning the last three games. Scores of 223, 204 and 202 helped propel NSU forward.
The Aggies, the No. 1 seed, awaited NSU after that. The Spartans won the first three games and overcame a big fourth game from the Aggies on the way to a 4-1 win.
N.C. A&T swept FAMU by a 4-0 score to earn a rematch with NSU in the mid-afternoon. In a double-elimination bracket, the Aggies needed to win twice to get to Sunday. They did just that, first posting three 200 games while sweeping the Spartans by another 4-0 score to force the if-necessary match.
The teams alternated wins at first, with NSU winning the first and third games with scores of 211 and 191. The Aggies had identical 245 scores in the second and fourth games to tie the match at 2-2. They then went on to win the next two for a 4-2 win.
Norfolk State ended its season at 55-40. It also marked the end of the careers for seniors
Briana Gardner and
Meagan Marciano. Gardner was a three-time All-MEAC performer, one of three Spartan bowlers all-time to accomplish the feat.
N.C. A&T will play No. 3 seed Maryland Eastern Shore on Sunday at noon in the title match. The Hawks took a similar path as A&T, falling to Delaware State early in the day before defeating DSU twice in the afternoon.
