SU bowling gears up for tournament

Take a walk inside of Metro Bowl on Airline Highway, where Southern women’s bowling team practices and take a seat.
There you will find a team led by senior Cassandra Shivers that is accustomed to winning and making memories that last a lifetime this time of year.
On Thursday, as the Jaguars prepped for the Music City Classic in Nashville, Tenn., practice was intense like always, but this time the mood was light.
Coach Karen Couvillion beamed while speaking of her team’s championship season. Players even cracked jokes in between turns.
It was all fun.
“We tend to goof off from time to time, but we focus and we are productive,” Shivers said.
SU (65-28, 24-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference) ripped through the SWAC west going 10-2 en route to claiming back-to-back crowns.
However, there is a chance things may change next week when the Jaguars meet SWAC runner up Alabama A&M in a pivotal first-round match.
AAMU came within one pin of defeating SU for the SWAC crown and enters the Music City Classic one tenth of a percentage point ahead of the Jaguars (SU 69.9 percent, A&M 70 percent).
“We have to beat them when we play them at this tournament,” Couvillion said. “There are about five schools within a point or two of each other.”
According to Couvillion, here’s how things will shake out in Nashville: On Friday coaches from the 23 schools will draw numbers to determine which round they will play. There will be 18 competitions with six baker rounds, six five-man team games on Saturday and six playoff games Sunday.
That’s quite different from SWAC play where there were two roundups where SU bowled each team three times and had to be one of the top three point winners in its division to advance.
It is likely the top eight teams emerging from the Music City Classic will advance to nationals. Southern is rated ninth among the teams among the 23 teams going into the Music City Classic. According to the NCAA Coaches Poll, however, SU is ranked 11.
“You can’t go strictly by what the poll says because the coaches vote on it and they may have not seen some of these teams,” Couvillion said of SU’s ranking. “It’s all about percentage ranking. If we do well, we’ll go up. If we don’t, we won’t.
“This tournament is very important.”
If SU advances to the Women’s National Collegiate Bowling Championship in April, win-loss record and strength of schedule will come into play. SU last made an NCAA run in 2004.
A large part of SU’s success will rest on the shoulders of Shivers, a student who also excels in the classroom and will graduate with a 3.87 cumulative grade-point average. Her GPA is the best of any bowler in SWAC.
“My role is to lead by example for some of the younger girls,” Shivers said. “I’m one of the stronger bowlers on the team, so I just try to motivate everyone and keep things in check.
“Coach (Couvillion) is really laid back so we’ve established self discipline to make sure everyone is doing what they need to do in practice, because you practice the way you compete.”
Vanessa Caldwell, the bowler who bowled the strike in SU’s championship victory over A&M said she wants to assume the leadership role next year and deliver a third championship in as many seasons.
“We can’t look past this tournament and hopefully NCAA’s, but want to three-peat,” Caldwell said. “I want three rings.”
SU will practice Monday through Wednesday before making the trek to Nashville on Thursday.
With all the winning SU has done in recent years, it’s safe to say a run at the NCAA’s is expected.
“That will be good,” Couvillion said of making the NCAA tournament. “That will be good.”