Marian University women’s bowling has been selected to participate in the Rochester Regional for the NCAA Tournament Regionals from April 3-5.

The Sabres will open with a winner-take-all match against fellow NCAA Division III opponent Saint Vincent College from Bowl-A-Roll at 9 a.m. Thursday, April 3.  The winner will qualify for the double-elimination portion of the bracket opening against No. 4 Youngstown State at 9 a.m. Friday, April 4.  The other two representatives for the Rochester Regional are No. 8 North Carolina A&T and No. 11 Louisiana Tech.

Marian women’s bowling won its fifth straight CCIW Championship after going 10-2 during the regular season.  The conference tournament proved a little bit tougher for the Sabres sweeping Elmhurst to open but falling to Aurora in the second match.  After defeating Carroll in an elimination match, the Sabres were able to force a winner-take-all match seven with a sweep of the Spartans.  The two squads split the opening matches with Marian eventually taking a 3-1 advantage.  After the Spartans rallied to force a winner-take-all seventh game, Marian defeated the Spartans for their fourth CCIW Tournament Championship.  This is the second straight berth in the NCAA Tournament for the Sabres with Marian falling to No. 3 Youngstown State and No. 6 Nebraska a season ago.  Seniors Brenna Schiekiera and Jocelynn Eggert headline the Sabres after each earned a spot on the All-CCIW First Team for a second straight season.

For Saint Vincent College, this is their first trip to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference tournament.  The Bearcats won the regular season title as well to earn them the top seed for the conference tournament.  SVC easily took care of Hilbert College and William Smith College in a pair of sweeps to open the conference tournament.  In a rematch against WSC, the Herons took the traditional part of the mega-match format but the Bearcats were able to rally taking the next two games that use Baker format to clinch their first national tournament appearance.  Senior Sabine Strickland and sophomore Skyy Nicholls earned All-AMCC First Team honors to headline the Bearcat roster.

Both schools at one point this season were receiving votes in the national poll.  In the latest DII-DIII poll, Saint Vincent was ranked seventh and Marian eighth.

More information on the Rochester Regional will be made available at sabreathletics.com as the NCAA Tournament draws closer.