The Saint Vincent women's bowling team opened the 2021 season with a pair of victories in the first round-robin event of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference season, on the road at Eastland Bowl in Erie.

SVC started the day with a matchup against host Penn State-Behrend.  In the five-game Baker pinfall series, the Bearcats opened an 80-pin lead after just two games, following a 190 team game in the second.  The lead increased to 125 after three games, and SVC cruised to an 808-688 win.  

Next up, SVC faced Medaille College, the team that finished the 2019-20 season tied with the Bearcats atop the conference standings.  The Bearcats got off to a fast start, winning by 18 pins (175-157) in the first game.  However, SVC struggled to shoot 135 in the second, while the Mavericks threw a 178 to take a 25-pin advantage after two games.  The SVC lineup of Monique Koehler, Jackie Koehler, Olivia Emmonds, Jessica Guesman and Dani Koehler each struck to start the third game, and the team finished with a 245-198 win, putting SVC up by 22 pins.  Four straight strikes in the middle of game four helped to lift SVC to a 207-165 win and a 64-pin lead.  Medaille won the fifth game, 185-160, but SVC took the match with a 922-883 total.  The Bearcats were the only team to eclipse the 900 mark for the afternoon.

The Bearcats then squared off against Hilbert College, and fell behind early.  Down 68 pins after two games, SVC closed the margin to just 25 with a 177-132 win in game three, but Hilbert stormed back to win the last two games and pull away to an 805-711 victory.

Junior Jessica Guesman led the Bearcats with a Baker frame average of 19.44 for the day, a game equivalent of 194.4.  Senior Dani Koehler finished with a 17.36 average, while freshman Jackie Koehler ended at 16.37.  Rounding out the top-5 for the Bearcats were sophomore Olivia Emmonds (15.72) and sophomore transfer Kaitlyn Morrison (15.14).

Saint Vincent and Medaille are tied at 2-1 to lead the North Division.  The South Division, which held its event in Altoona, was led for the day by Mount Aloysius (3-0).

SVC will be back in action on Sunday (February 21), hosting Pitt-Greensburg at Lincoln Lanes in Latrobe.  The event is closed to the public but will be webcast on the Saint Vincent College Bowling Facebook page.