Bandy headlines USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championships field

Pikeville junior Kayla Bandy doesn't view the 2007 United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Singles Championships as the culmination of this season but as a way to jumpstart her senior year.

Bandy, who was recently named Most Valuable Player for the 2006-07 season by the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association, headlines a field of the top 16 women and top 15 men competing for individual national titles at the USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championships at AMF Pin Palace Lanes in Huntsville, Ala., on May 21-22.

"I'm not looking at it as the end of the season, I'm looking at it as the start of the new senior season," said Bandy, who was third in the nation among women with a 195.08 average this season. "I've been thinking about my senior year and it's making me pretty nervous. It's hard to imagine college bowling being over, so hopefully I'll start it off good."

Bandy is one of three Pikeville players in the women's field. She's joined by teammates Ashley Stahurski and national Rookie of the Year Jaime Foster. Other notable players in the field include Elysia Current and Emily Maier, who helped lead Wichita State to victory at the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships recently.

"I wish all of our teammates were going to be there because we all had a great year, but the three of us should represent Pikeville well," said Bandy, who finished among the top eight in her only Intercollegiate Singles Championships appearance in 2005. "It's weird going to a college tournament without your entire team. When I bowled as a freshman, it was a different experience and now that I know what it's like, I'm out to win."

On the men's side, Fresno State's P.J. Haggerty, who was named the men's Most Valuable Player this season, has elected to join the Professional Bowlers Association and is now ineligible to compete in the event. He will not be replaced.

With Haggerty out, the men's field is led by several current or former Junior Team USA members. Robert Morris' Tim Pfeifer, who is currently on Junior Team USA, helped lead his team to a second-place finish at the Intercollegiate Team Championships this season.

West Texas A&M's William Haverland, a second-team All-American this season, is also currently on Junior Team USA while Lindenwood's Daniel Farish was on Junior Team USA in 2006.

Participants will bowl eight qualifying games on May 21 to determine seeding for the best-of-5, single-elimination match play competition on May 22. The top four seeds in each division will receive byes to the third Round of match play, while No. 5 through No. 8 seeds will receive byes to the second round.

Qualifying for the USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championships was held at the four Intercollegiate Bowling Championships Sectional Qualifier sites -- Allentown, Pa.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Fairview Heights, Ill.; and Las Vegas -- on March 23. All participants bowled six games with total pinfall determining final standings. The top four finishers in each division (male and female) at each site advanced to the USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championships.

The USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championships is sponsored by Hammer Bowling and Kegel, the official lane maintenance provider for USBC.