NEW ORLEANS, La. (3/19/21) – Arkansas State women's bowling coach Justin Kostick has been voted the Southland Bowling League Coach of the Year, the league announced Friday.
 
"A coach can't win awards like this without great players and a great team, and I'm fortunate to have a great group to coach," Kostick said. "Awards like these are team awards and I couldn't be prouder of the work our team has put in this season to get to this point."
 
In his 12th season leading the Red Wolves, Kostick has guided A-State to a 35-21 record and No. 1 seed in the Southland Bowling League Championship that begins Friday morning. Ranked second in the latest NTCA Poll, A-State won three of five tournaments during the season, finishing runner-up in the other two events. The Red Wolves claimed championships at the Louisiana Tech Invitational top open the season and have won their last two tournaments, the Big Red Invitational and Mid-Winter Invitational.
 
A-State and Valparaiso will bowl in a mega-match format on beginning at 8:30 a.m. Friday in the first round of the double-elimination Southland Bowling League Championship. The teams will bowl one standard five-person game for total pinfall, then five Baker games for total pinfall. If one team wins both the traditional game and Baker games, they will advance. If both teams split the standard and Baker games, they will move on to a best-of-seven series of Baker games.
 
Round two matches begin at 1:30 p.m. Friday with third and fourth round matches set for 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively, Saturday. Following a round five match at 8:00 a.m. Sunday, a champion will be crowned at a time to be determined. Each round of the Southland Bowling League Championship will be streamed on YouTube via InsideBowling.
 
For the latest on A-State bowling, follow the team on Twitter (@AStateBowling), Facebook (/AStateBowling) and Instagram (@redwolvesbowling).