Liz Johnson (left) of Cheektowaga, N.Y., wasn't exactly sure what to expect when she took to the lanes for Bowling's Clash of Champions, a United States Bowling Congress event. But there's one thing she learned quickly - as long as she kept striking, she couldn't lose.

Johnson was put to the test by high school bowler Jenny Brown of Deland, Fla., in the one-ball, sudden-death round of the Clash at Kansas City Municipal Auditorium but eventually pulled out a victory to advance to the championship round, which will air Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports.

Johnson takes on Lynda Barnes (right) of Double Oak, Texas, in the women's semifinal while Sean Rash of Wichita, Kan., battles Tim Pfeifer of Cranberry Township, Pa., in the men's semifinal. The winners meet for the championship and a $50,000 prize.

In the opening round, which marked the return of bowling to network television for the first time in nearly a decade, the event took on a unique format where 16 champions of USBC events and the U.S. Open in 2007 were broken into four groups of four by gender. The pairings battled in one-ball, sudden death rounds and the bowler with the lowest pinfall each round was eliminated.

After Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J., and Elysia Current of Ephrata, Pa., fell in the first two rounds that left Johnson and Brown to battle for the spot in the semifinals. And Brown, the youngest participant in the Clash at 17 years old, showed poise as she tested Johnson.

Brown stepped up and threw eight consecutive strikes, forcing Johnson to match with strikes herself to stay alive in the Clash. On her ninth shot, Brown tugged the ball and left a 3-10 split while Johnson fired her ninth straight strike to secure victory.

"She just didn't miss and that's probably because she had nothing to lose," Johnson said. "Even though she kept throwing strike after strike, I really didn't feel any pressure. Something had to give sooner or later."

Johnson, who earned her spot in the Clash by winning the 2007 U.S. Women's Open, made the television finals at the USBC Queens last week and finished third.

"This was so much different than bowling a regular game like last week that it's hard to compare the two," Johnson said. "It was definitely a unique situation, and I'm just proud and fortunate I was able to be a part of it."

In the other women's pairing, Barnes struck on three of four shots to survive against Brittni Hamilton of Webster, N.Y., Wendy Macpherson of Henderson, Nev., and Lucy Sandelin of Tampa, Fla. Barnes and Sandelin tied in the third round, forcing a roll-off. After Barnes struck, Sandelin could only muster a seven count and was eliminated.

The most surprising elimination in the men's parings was that of PBA and USBC Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., who was knocked out in the first round of his group, which included Sean Rash (left), Adam Martinez of San Antonio and Mike Rose Jr. of West Henrietta, N.Y. Weber got just six pins on his only shot, leaving the 4-6-9-10 split.

Tim Pfeifer (right) locked up the other spot in the men's semifinals by outlasting Tom Baker of King, N.C., Jason Price of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., and David O'Sullivan of Orlando, Fla.

Each of the 12 players who were eliminated in the one-ball, sudden-death round earned a prize check of $1,250.