Nov. 18, 2007

MILLSBORO, Del.--With Karen Grygiel winning Most Valuable Player honors, Vanderbilt's top-rated bowling team put on a dominating performance to easily capture its second straight Hawk Classic Invitational Tournament.

The Commodores ran away from the 19-team field to win by 429 pins over Fairleigh Dickinson and over 900 pins more than third place and tournament host Maryland - Eastern Shore, last year's NCAA runner-up.

Using its entire lineup, Vanderbilt had a strong series of Baker games Sunday with one minor blip, winning four of the five with three of its winning totals well north of 800 pins (4-game sets).

"We started to show some competitive intensity near the end of the tournament in Wisconsin last weekend and we carried it with us," said Coach John Williamson.  "We averaged over 200 as a team for the entire tournament with conditions that didn't allow others to score highly.  We did a very good job in converting spares, splits and every conceivable facet of the game."

Grygiel averaged a booming 230 to outdistance second place Trish Dahiroc of FDU by a whopping 20 pins per game.  Commodore Josie Earnest made the all-tournament team with her 205 average, good for fourth place.  Michelle Peloquin was seventh, Tara Kane 18th and Ellen Morrison came in 21st.

"I had the right ball for the right conditions," Grygiel recounted afterwards.  "I was just focusing on staying relaxed, hitting my mark time and watching the pins fall."

Grygiel notes that the Commodores experienced lineup is beginning to pay dividends.

"We were able to feed off each other the entire weekend," the Brick, N.J. junior noted. "We saw lane conditions change and made quick and accurate adjustments. Everyone was helping each other.  With experience you become better able to adjust."

Williamson inserted sophomore Ashley Belden and freshman Amanda Halter into the Baker rotation for the first game, taking out Ellen Morrison and Tara Kane. That combination worked well in the first game of the day but ran into some difficulty during the second contest.  The Black and Gold used Peloquin, Morrison, Grygiel, Kane and Earnest in its last three games.

The Commodores, now 27-6, won for the first time in the young season.  They return to action at the Capitol City Classic in Jackson, Mississippi in two weeks.

Team Leader Board (19 team were in the field):

Vanderbilt                          10,113

Fairleigh Dickinson             9.684

Maryland-Eastern Shore    9,200

VU's Sunday Baker Results (4-game sets):

Vanderbilt 855   New Jersey City   772

Adelphi      752  Vanderbilt   722

Vanderbilt  774   Howard  579

Vanderbilt 872   Hampton  711

Vanderbilt 838   Maryland-Eastern Shore  669