The SVC women's bowling team posted a pair of victories in the first day of the Medaille College Tournament in Buffalo, New York.

The Bearcats opened the day with their highest game in the series of five, 5-game Baker events.  SVC tallied a score of 197 in the opener against NCAA-II Daemen, winning by 9 pins.  The Bearcats held a 27-pin advantage going to the fourth game, but lost by 60 pins and were unable to make up the difference, despite throwing a 184 in the final game of the match.  Daemen finished with a 50-pin victory, 902-852.  Samm Firestone led SVC with a 10-frame total of 268 with 9 strikes, including six in a row.

Saint Vincent bounced back with a team win in match #2, defeating Hilbert by a score of 791-733.  Dani Koehler led the way with a 235 total over her 10 frames in the match.  

The third match of the day, against host Medaille College, saw the Bearcats struggle as a team in the opening two games, falling behind by 72 pins.  SVC fell by a score of 845-761.  Shelby Noel had a solid series, throwing a 10-frame total of 171, while Koehler had a 202 total.

The fourth match of the day proved to be the closest, as SVC squared off against NCAA-II Roberts Wesleyan College.  SVC won the first game by a 2-pin margin, then followed with a 168-151 victory in game two, extending the lead to 19 pins.  Roberts won the third game by a score of 172-166, cutting SVC's lead to just 13, then Roberts was a 3-pin winner in game four, 153-150.  SVC held a 10-pin advantage going into the final game of the match, but five open frames cost the Bearcats the win, as Roberts won the final game by 13 pins, taking the match 744-741.

SVC won the final match of the day, defeating Pitt-Bradford by a score of 734-713.  Cassie Murcko helped SVC to an early lead with four straight strikes, but Bradford fought back to take a 3-pin lead after three games.  Rachael Heater, Firestone and Koehler had marks in all of their frames in game four, as SVC posted a 140-115 lead to regain the series advantage, and Bradford's 1-pin win in game five was not enough, as SVC won the match by 21.

For the day, Koehler led the way with a Baker average of 19.3 pins per game, the equivalent of averaging 193.  Firestone finished at 18.2, while Heater ended at 17.3. Murcko (14.8) and Noel (13.8) rounded out the top-five for Saint Vincent.  

SVC will be back in action on Sunday (November 5) in the final day of the tournament, with five best-of-seven Baker matches scheduled.