Fort Worth, Tex. - The No. 2 ranked Nebraska bowling team kicked off the third tournament of the 2025-26 campaign witha second place finish after their first day of matches in the Bulldog Classic hosted by No. 9 Louisiana Tech and held in Fort Worth, Tex., at Cityview Lanes. The Big Red came off a 9-4 fifth-place finish in Destination Orlando two weeks prior and look to improve and take their second first-place finish in a tournament this season.

Day one consisted of five matches of five-game baker format, with the first match pitting Nebraska against Alabama State. Brenna Hartzler, Abigail Starkey, Haley Swindle, Kayla Starr, and Jillian Martin started the day for the Big Red. Game one of the match was a six-pin 212-206 victory by the Huskers with solid performances from the whole lineup. Game two saw NU open with four straight strikes and continue the momentum towards a clean game of 237-179, broadening their lead to 449-385. In game three, two open frames off of tough splits and six strikes to end it from Alabama State saw the Huskers drop their first game of the tournament 236-212. Game four saw both squads bowl a clean game, but the Hornets ended up on top 245-238, shaving the Nebraska lead down to just 33 pins at 899-866. In the fifth and final game, multiple open frames from Alabama State allowed the Huskers to capitalize and put the match away, taking the game 213-169 and the match 1112-1035.

Match two was against the No. 3-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores, who the Huskers only lost to by five pins in their last meeting. Game one had the Commodores take an early 191-155 lead, capitalizing on some open frames by the Huskers. The Big Red would bounce back in game two, though, taking it 202-170 and closing the match gap to 361-357. In game three, NU was able to shake off an open frame and take a slim 569-563 match lead after a 212-202 win. Vanderbilt would respond with a 212-191 clean game four to take the lead right back at 775-750. With another close match between these squads taking shape, the decisive game five had Vanderbilt finishing off the Huskers with a 206-184 scoreline, taking the match 981-944 and handing NU its first loss of the day, moving them to 1-1.

Match three featured another top 25 opponent, No. 24 Oklahoma Christian. The Eagles would get off to a hot start, claiming games one and two 198-183 and 215-201, respectively, before the Huskers could respond in game three with a 179-162 win that trimmed Oklahoma Christian’s lead to a slim 565-563. The Big Red kept applying the pressure in game four, winning again 213-171 and taking their first lead of the match 776-736. Game five is where NU put it away, striking six – including a triple from Martin in the tenth – to make it a 190-179 victory, taking the match 966-925 and moving to 2-1 on the day.

In match four, NU elected to substitute Lani Breedlove for Swindle before they took on the Southern University Jaguars, where in game one, they made a statement with a 231-171 win. After the strong opening, the Huskers faltered a bit as Southern took game two 199-179 to decrease Nebraska’s large lead to 410-370. Game three looked to be in Southern’s favor when they struck three to start, but a clutch three strikes to end it– including a double from Martin – propelled the Huskers to the front as they won 203-194 and increased their lead to 613-564. Nebraska would keep its momentum going into game four, easily winning 205-146 with another triple to Martin’s name, and increasing their lead to triple digits (818-710). With the match all but won, NU cruised to a victory in game five, 213-202, ultimately taking the match 1031-912 and moving to 3-1.

The final match of the day would have the Huskers take on the No. 1 ranked Jacksonville State Gamecocks. The Big Red was unconscious in game one, striking nine to the tune of a 269-223 opening. Jax State responded with a fabulous game, ending up one strike short of a perfect game in a 289-215 thrashing, the match total moving to 512-484 in their favor. The Huskers would fire back with another nine-strike performance, winning game three 268-234 and bringing the match total to 752-746 in NU’s favor. Nebraska would follow that up with a six-strike, 223-192 win in game four that would increase their match lead to 975-938. Game five was a close one, but ultimately the Big Red would close it out 227-225, taking the match with an outstanding 1202-1163 and solidifying their day one record at 4-1.

Before the final match of the day, the Huskers were in sixth place overall (determined by total pinfall), but with the stellar performance in that fifth match, NU propelled itself all the way up to second place with a total pinfall of 5,255 and a per-game average of 210.2. Nebraska returns to lanes tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. (CT) to participate in the first of five traditional matches, beginning with two positional rounds before playing No. 6 Arkansas State, No. 11 Sacred Heart, and Prairie View A&M in the last three matches of the day. Results of today’s and tomorrow’s contests will be combined to determine seeding for Sunday’s bracket.

Stay up to date with the action by following the Nebraska Women’s Bowling Twitter (@HuskerBowling), Instagram (@huskerbowling) and Facebook.

Standings After Day 1 (By Total Pinfall)

No. 1 Jacksonville State – 5,536

**No. 2 Nebraska – 5,255 **

No. 11 Sacred Heart – 5,162

No. 6 Arkansas State – 5,158

No. 5 Wichita State – 5,144

No.6 Vanderbilt – 5,137

No. 9 Louisiana Tech – 5,057

No. 8 Sam Houston – 5,043

No. 19 Tulane – 4,738

No. 24 Oklahoma Christian – 4,666