September 2015 -
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TOURNAMENTS
Semifinalists Determined At Smithfield
PWBA Tour Championship
By Aaron Smith
ARLINGTON, Texas –
Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, New
York, Stefanie Johnson of Grand Prairie, Texas, Kelly Kulick
of Union, New Jersey, and Danielle McEwan of Stony Point,
New York, advanced to the championship round of the 2015
Smithfield Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour
Championship promoted by GoBowling.com on Friday.
The semifinal matches will feature Liz Johnson squaring off
against McEwan and Stefanie Johnson taking on Kulick at
the International Training and Research Center. The win-
ners will advance to the finals and face off for the major title
and $20,000 top prize.
Liz Johnson and Stefanie Johnson automatically were
seeded into the semifinals as the top two players on the
PWBA point list, while McEwan and Kulick battled their way
through the best-of-five single-elimination bracket Friday.
Liz Johnson, a USBC Hall of Famer, led the tour in points,
earnings and wins on her way into the semifinals. She
kicked off the year by capturing her second USBC Queens
title and has won the last two events leading into the Tour
Championship, including defending her title at last week’s
Bowlmor AMF U.S. Women’s Open, her fourth career win at
the event.
“It’s been a dream season for me, and I never would have
imagined having three titles this year with two majors,” said
Liz Johnson, who also won the PWBA Detroit Open in Au-
gust. “I’m happy to be back in the finals and am going to try
to make the best showing I can. I’ve been very fortunate and
lucky to have the career I’ve had in the last 19 years, and
this would be another great accomplishment.”.
Stefanie Johnson, winner of the PWBA Wichita Open in
July, earned her spot in the semifinals as one of the most
consistent performers throughout the season, leading the
tour in cashes and match-play appearances.
McEwan, the No. 5 seed, had the longest trip through the
bracket of the four finalists, but cruised through each of her
three matches as she nearly averaged 230 on Friday. She
swept Elysia Current of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and Liz
Kuhlkin of Schenectady, New York, 3-0, before besting
Shannon O’Keefe of O’Fallon, Illinois, 3-1, to advance to the
semifinals.
“I was trying to make good shots since every lane was play-
ing completely different and I had to be constantly on top of
the moves,” said McEwan, who will make her fourth champi-
onship round appearance of 2015. “This year has been
really amazing. I had a rough start to the season, so I fig-
ured that would have taken me out of having the chance to
be here. I took being here as a bonus, and I think that
helped me. The pressure was off and I was just able to
bowl. That’s how I’m going to approach Sunday.”
Kulick, who earned a first-round bye as the No. 3 seed,
defeated Erin McCarthy of Omaha, Nebraska, 3-1, before
winning the final three games against Rocio Restrepo of
Colombia to make her sixth championship round appear-
ance of the season, 3-2. Kulick, the PWBA spokesperson,
still is looking for her first title of the year.
The PWBA Player of the Year race also will be determined
during Sunday’s championship round. Stefanie Johnson will
need to win the Tour Championship to earn the award, oth-
erwise Liz Johnson will take home the honor for the first time
in her storied career.
PWBA members qualified for the Tour Championship by
either winning a title during the 2015 season or earning
enough competition points. All 2015 PWBA Tour champions
(who were members at the time of their victory) received an
automatic invitation to the Tour Championship, and the re-
mainder of the 16-player field was filled out through the
PWBA points list.
2015 Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship promoted by
GoBowling.com
At International Training and Research Center, Arlington, TX
Friday’s Results
MATCH PLAY (Best-of-five, single-elimination match play)
ROUND 1
(Losers eliminated, earn $1,000)
(9) Shannon O’Keefe, O’Fallon, Ill., def. (12) Missy Parkin,
Laguna Hills, Calif., 3-0 (258-179, 218-201, 211-191)
(5) Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., def. (16) Elysia
Current, Ephrata, Pa., 3-0 (248-160, 237-225, 212-202)
(14) Liz Kuhlkin, Schenectady, N.Y., def. (7) Kristina
Wendell, Kingston, N.Y., 3-0 (192-164, 181-143, 205-176)
(15) Amanda Greene, Romney, W.Va., def. (6) Shannon
Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 3-2 (187-213, 177-235, 207-153,
215-183, 216-204)
(8) Rocio Restrepo, Colombia, def. (13) Bryanna Caldwell,
Red Rock, Ariz., 3-1 (198-188, 200-167, 185-238, 183-182)
(10) Erin McCarthy, Omaha, Neb., def. (11) Clara Guerrero,
Colombia, 3-2 (179-148, 212-175, 174-205, 162-182, 205-
159)
ROUND 2
(Losers eliminated, earn $2,000)
O’Keefe def. (4) Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 3-1 (207-224, 204-
184, 257-172, 225-220)
McEwan def. Kuhlkin, 3-0 (251-185, 190-177, 234-203)
Restrepo def. Greene, 3-2 (212-224, 219-189, 189-138, 181
-200, 190-164)
(3) Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., def. McCarthy, 3-1 (166-207,
178-167, 199-182, 219-149)
ROUND 3
(Losers eliminated, earn $3,000)
McEwan def. O’Keefe, 3-1 (180-259, 246-190, 238-224, 256
-214)
Kulick def. Restrepo, 3-2 (183-220, 206-223, 211-204, 235-
187, 196, 171)
SEMIFINALS
(1) Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y. vs. McEwan
(2) Stefanie Johnson, Grand Prairie, Texas vs. Kulick
