Lady Vikings rolling along

Bowling team goes 14-1 in division meet

Bowling at Elizabeth City State is overlooked more often than not. But the Lady Vikings are doing their best to make their name known and defend their Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship.

ECSU took the first step in doing that by going 12-0 against CIAA competition during the three-day CIAA Eastern Division meet held at Albemarle Lanes.

“I think we bowled pretty good, better than I expected” ECSU coach Jody Williams said. “A lot of people still don’t respect us, but after this weekend they will have to respect us. We had one senior last year and we brought a couple of new girls in. They’re going to have to respect us, because we beat everybody this weekend.”

The Lady Vikings finished the event at 14-1 overall.

This weekend, the Lady Vikings were led by senior captain Tiffany Johnson who averaged a 192 during the competition.

“Schools are just getting started (on the season), but they didn’t really push us too much,” Williams said. “This is our third tournament (of the year), so maybe we’re just ahead of the game right now.”

Coming off their first-ever CIAA title last year, the Lady Vikings are off to a good start to the 2009-10 season. ECSU placed fourth at the Down South Open hosted by Winston-Salem State in late October, then finished third its own Beach Open in Nags

Head, which culminated on Nov. 1.

“It’s good exposure for the area as well as my team,” Williams said of ECSU hosting tournaments. “It was a great success. That was about the best tournament that I have ever been to. The atmosphere was just great.”

With the help of Linda Mohr, director of the bowling center in Nags Head, ECSU will attempt to host the CIAA championships next year and place a bid to host the NCAA championships within the next few years.

“We’re really working on that,” Williams said. “We have to have bids in by December.”

December will be an light month for the Lady Vikings with just one tournament on tap for ECSU, but January will be busier with a second division meet at the end of the month in Midlothian, Va., followed by the CIAA Roundup at Shaw at the beginning of February.