March 20, 2008

HAMPTON, Va. - The Florida A&M Women's Bowling team is riding a recent surge into the 2008 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Bowling Championship, set to begin Friday morning at 9:00 at the Sparetimes Bowling Lanes in Hampton, Virginia.

Florida A&M (40-65, 15-9 in MEAC) has shown dramatic improvement in the second half of the 2007-08 campaign, with a 15-11 record since resuming play following the Christmas break in January.

Coach Novella Franklin's crew opened the New Year with a 5-0 sweep of the Southern Divisional Tournament in January, then posted a 7-3 overall showing in the NCAA Releaser's Invitational, February 8-10 in Tallahassee.

The Lady Rattlers' 5-0 finish in the Southern Divisional event in January, vaulted them into a first-place fie in the MEAC South with archrival Bethune-Cookman University at 15-9.

MEAC CHAMPIONSHIP OVERVIEW

Only eight teams advanced from regular season conference play into this weekend's league championships - Delaware State, Hampton, Maryland Eastern Shore, and Morgan State from the MEAC Northern Division, and Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M, Norfolk State and North Carolina A&T from the MEAC Southern Division.

Teams will start the competition on Friday with a qualifying round, which will determine seeding based on total pin fall.

After teams are seeded, they will compete in a second qualifying round with baker matches and placed in a double-elimination bracket.

Play continues on Saturday with teams competing against each other in a best-of-seven baker style competition.

The MEAC Bowling Championship wraps up on Sunday at 10:15 a.m. beginning with the semifinal round and concluding with the championship final.