Some things just aren't meant to be.  With a team that has no seniors, Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) will try again next year to claim their second NCAA Championship.  They bowed out early, falling to New Jersey City University 4-1, and finishing tied for fifth in the nation.

"We always come in with the expectation of winning," said Sharon Brummell, UMES head coach.  "I think we got a fresh start this morning after a rough day yesterday.  We played well under pressure in our win over Vanderbilt but we made a lot of mistakes and I think the team that makes the least mistakes on this shot will be the winner."

Mistakes may be an understatement; the Lady Hawks (103-37) left 15 open frames in their five games against NJCU (78-45), 10 of which were splits.

"We couldn't get Paula going," said Brummell of sophomore All-American Paula Vilas. "She is the key to our engine, she starts us up.  She wanted it so bad but as the lead-off we need her to strike and we just couldn't get her, or anyone  for that matter, adjusted to the pattern."

The pattern, Brummell speaks of, is how the oil is laid on the lanes.  This pattern was created especially for the NCAA Championships, however, its degree of difficulty may not have been the problem.

"This is not what were used to bowling on," added Brummell.  "We practice on very tough patterns, I don't think we expected this simple of a pattern.  We over thought it.  I think that is why some of the top teams are out, they over thought it too"

When it came down to it however UMES just didn't make the shots they needed to.  "We made mistakes," said First-Team All-American Maria Rodriguez.  "We didn't do what we were supposed to."

UMES got down early to NJCU.  They dropped game one 216-192 but rebounded to outlast the Gothic Knights 168-157 and evened the match at two games each.  From there it was all NJCU.  UMES had a chance in the third game, coming up just four pins down after Rodriguez rolled three strikes to end the game.

UMES wasn't themselves down 2-1.  "Things were different," said All-American

Kristina Frahm.  "Out attitude was down."  Games four and five ended 194-158 and 178-141, both in favor of the host Knights, advancing them to tonight's match against Fairleigh Dickinson University.

UMES still holds pride in their season and the fact they have made seven straight championships.  "I think this has really grown," said Frahm.  "I think they are trying different things to tweak it and make it better, like the win/loss percentage for seeding. That is the first year they did that, it would have been better for us to stay the same, but I know they want to make it the best they can."

"We'll be back," said Rodriguez.  "We want another title."

"The feeling of winning is amazing," said Frahm  "When we won in Nebraska I wanted to stay there and never have that feeling leave.  Now, I am ready to go, because we expect to win.  I want to win every time I bowl.  Next year, things will be different then they are now."

UMES isn't quite ready to start off-season preparations yet.  They will travel to EL Paso, Texas April 14-17 for the USBC ITC Championships, featuring the nation's top teams, including many club and NAIA programs.  UMES qualified for the event by winning the Chattanooga sectional.  They posted the highest pinfall of any women's team at any sectional.

The top 32 teams in college bowling will compete-for the first time- in a custom-built arena setting, and will compete in 32 games of Baker competition before moving on to five rounds of double-elimination, best-of-seven match play.

"We hope to go out and get some hardware there," said Brummell.  "We want to try and better our finish here."