HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University women's bowling team, in just its second year of existence, will host Texas Southern in an opening-round match of the 2018 National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship Friday morning beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Hillcrest Lanes. The winner of the best-of-three match that consists of three team game formats – Baker total pin fall, five-person team match and best-of-seven Baker match – will advance to the eight-team double elimination bracket competition of the NCAA Bowling Championship April 12-14 in St. Louis, Missouri.
 
The eighth-seeded Lady Railsplitters clinched an automatic berth to the NCAA Bowling Championship after going 9-1 in the East Coast Conference Championship and beating Franklin Pierce 4-1 to claim their first-ever conference title. Texas Southern earned the tenth and final seed in the NCAA championship by beating Jackson State 4-3 in the SWAC Bowling Championship—the Lady Tigers' first conference title since 2006. 
 
Sophomore Marisol Dodson was named the ECC Championship Most Outstanding Bowler while freshmen Justine Brookover and Tyra Sanchez also landed on the All-Tournament Team.
 
"It's exciting for us to be hosting the first-ever opening round," LMU Director of Bowling and Women's Head Coach Joseph Slowinski said. "This is unusual. We are usually preparing to bowl in another center. Preparation is a little different because we're in the building we practice in every day."
 
Lincoln Memorial is 24-5 in its past 29 matches and 71-50 overall, which is a 29-win improvement from the team's 42-79 inaugural mark. The Lady Railsplitters are 2-0 over Texas Southern on the year with a 4-1 win (170-161, 166-216, 233-147, 159-140, 190-168) at the Mid-Winter Invitational on January 14 and 1037-756 victory March 16 at the Music City Classic.
 
"I feel very confident that we're ready to perform at our best," Slowinski said. "We do not take any team for granted. They're hungry as much as we are."


 
Women's bowling is the second program at Lincoln Memorial University to host an NCAA tournament game this season and in the history of the LMU athletics department along with men's basketball.
 
"We have a very tight-knit group of strong young women," Slowinski said. "We have prepared by going out and facing the best teams in the country over and over again so that we have a mental strength. We can bowl from the front, and we can bowl when we're down. We do not give up, and we have proven that in the last month in particular."
 
Admission is completely free of charge for the opening-round match of the 2018 National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship. The competition will get underway at 8:30 a.m. on Friday.