Coming into the 2007 United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Team Championships as defending champions provided plenty of motivation for Saginaw Valley State sophomore anchor Dan MacLelland.

Recent events in his personal life, however, have pushed that desire to the next level. MacLelland's father, Len, is battling liver cancer and diabetes and is in the hospital where he undergoing surgery to have his foot amputated.

With a renewed focus, MacLelland helped guide the Cardinals to an undefeated record in double-elimination match play Friday at Northrock Lanes, keeping their hopes alive for a second consecutive national championship.

Saginaw Valley State is joined by the Lindenwood men, Wichita State women and McKendree women as the remaining undefeated teams. All four teams need to win just one more match Saturday to advance to the nationally-televised finals (tape-delayed on CSTV).

"I'm doing this for my dad because he loves to watch me bowl," said MacLelland, a first-team All-American this season who helped the Cardinals defeat Nebraska 4-1, William Paterson 4-1 and UC Davis 4-0 on Friday. "I haven't really said anything to the guys, but they know. I'm doing it for my dad this weekend but the team isn't too far from my mind that's for sure."

Saginaw Valley State coach Dan Dorion said his team's goal was simple coming into the event.

"We didn't come here to finish second," Dorion said. "We had one goal in mind at the start of the year and that goal is still to be there on Saturday in the championship round. We know we're a great team. We've won 12 out of 18 tournaments this year."

The Cardinals will face No. 16 seed UC Davis while Lindenwood will take on Robert Morris in the other semifinal match Saturday morning. Due to the double-elimination format, UC Davis and Robert Morris will have to beat their opponents in consecutive matches to advance to the TV finals.

After finishing qualifying Thursday in last place, UC Davis advanced to the semifinals in stunning fashion by defeating top seed Wichita State twice Saturday. The Aggies took out the Shockers in the day's opening round 4-1 and defeated them again 4-3 to advance to the semifinals.

In the deciding Game 7, the Shockers appeared on their way to the semifinals. However, they finished with three opens in the final four frames - missing two single pins and a 5-7 split - handing the Aggies a 179-162 victory.

"This morning we bowled well against them, and we caught them at the right time in the second match," UC Davis coach Nick Morgan said. "Wichita State is the best team in the country, and I can't believe they basically handed us the victory."

On the women's side, Wichita State will take on Central Florida while McKendree faces Penn State in the semifinals.

To reach the semifinals, Wichita State had to take care of Newman, which is also based in Wichita. The Shockers defeated the Jets 4-2 to win the cross-town battle.

"It was different just knowing everyone on the pair," said Wichita State senior Elysia Current, a first-team All-American selection this season. "It was maybe a little more relaxing, but at the same time more uptight because it felt like everyone in Wichita was behind us watching."

Wichita State coach Mark Lewis said competing against a team from across town was a unique experience for both teams.

"We've got two teams at a high level playing together, and it's really pretty special," said Lewis, a member of the USBC Hall of Fame. "Our two teams are familiar with each other because they bowl leagues together and have traveled to tournaments together. You are bowling together, you are friends and then you both want to win. So it's a unique situation and it can be a challenge to turn that off and on."

The USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships is the pinnacle event of the college bowling season with the top 16 men's and top 16 women's teams in the country vying for national titles.