MARCH NTCA COACHES POLL

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The LIU Brooklyn bowling team moved up three spots in the national rankings to 13th in the latest National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) poll, it was announced Wednesday. The March poll was the third live poll of the season. The Blackbirds were ranked 16th in the nation last month and in the preseason poll back in October, and made the largest jump of teams in the poll's top 20 teams.

Nebraska claimed the top spot in the poll, receiving 36 of the 42 first place votes, with No. 2 McKendree getting the six remaining first-place votes. Arkansas State, Vanderbilt and Sam Houston State round out the top five.

The Blackbirds received a total of 566 points in the poll. LIU is coming off of a 10-2 showing at the Monmouth Hawk Flight Invitational last weekend, which included victories over No. 5 Sam Houston State and No. 6 Delaware State, to move the team to 65-39 on the year. LIU has won 16 of the team's last 19 matches over the last two weekend events.

Other Northeast Conference foes ranked in the poll include Fairleigh Dickinson (10th), Sacred Heart (12th), Saint Francis U. (16th) and Duquesne (17th). SHU and LIU earned first-day byes at the upcoming NEC Championships (March 23-25 in Howell, NJ), with the top two records in regular season play and will begin play on Saturday, March 24.

The Blackbirds have a break this weekend will return to competition March 16-18, when they travel to Nashville for the Vanderbilt Music City Classic for their final regular season event.