Day One of the FHSAA state bowling finals proved costly for competitors from Miami-Dade as several of the county's top bowlers found themselves out of contention for a state championship.

Gulliver Prep phenom Andrew Koff lost in the second round of match play to Indian Rock Christian's Brandon Hott.

Koff, who led early in the tournament, lost 216-212 in Game One and 219-215 in the best-of-3 format.

Koff, a senior who won a state championship during his freshman year, had never been shut out of the championship match during his high school career.

``Andrew was close but didn't have a good shot to strike,'' Gulliver coach Mike Nyitray said.

OTHER UPSET

Koff was not the only major upset for a Miami-Dade team after North Miami Beach failed to advance any of its bowlers individually or as a team.

North Miami Beach's Katherine and Victoria Jones failed to reach the top 16 spots to advance to the second round of the individual tournament.

Katherine, who is among the top girls' bowlers in the county, rolled a 162 and a 148 to land in 40th place.

BRIGHT SPOTS

Gulliver Prep's Ana Koff, Andrew's younger sister, and Southwest's Melissa Perez were the only two bowlers from South Florida in the individual category to survive and will return Wednesday looking for a state championship.

After breezing through the early rounds, Ana Koff, a junior, was on the verge of losing to Park Vista's Jamie Gray after losing her first game of match play.

Koff was able to keep her composure and rallied from behind to bowl a 290 in Game 2 and tie the match at 1. In the third game, Koff dominated, tossing five conecutive strikes in a 214-160 victory.

``I was just trying to have fun,'' Koff said.

``[290] was my highest game ever. . . . I'm just happy to bowl that here.''

`NERVE-WRACKING'

Day One was just as difficult for Perez who had to overcome a tough loss in her first game of the second round of match play.

In game one, Perez shot a 215 but was bested by a 230 by Boca Raton's Lauren Brooks. Both girls fought hard in game two, but Perez defeated Brooks 234-222. In the third game, Perez was able to take control and won 222-203.

``It was nerve-wracking but I knew I had to relax because I knew it would go well,'' Perez said.

TOP TEAM

In the team competition, the Palmetto girls' squad is the only team from Miami-Dade to advance to the semifinals.

The Panthers, led by Melissa Covert, defeated South Fork 892-846 in the quarterfinals.

Covert also had qualified for the individual portion for the state tournament but lost in the first round of match play to Belleview High's Kimberly Reynolds.

Carol City's upstart bowlers, Christopher Pichardo and Roland Davis, were eliminated from individual play, as well as Krop's Shawn Humphreys, Gulliver's Katherine Black and Alexis Dahan and Palmetto's Erin Pettit.

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