The Saint Vincent women's bowling team earned its second tournament victory of the season, sweeping all eight weekend matches and winning the Bobcat Baker Classic for the second straight year.
The event, held at Lokay Lanes in Monroeville, may have been the first-ever NCAA tournament using new "string pin" technology, and the scoring pace was low throughout the weekend by all teams, yet SVC managed to win by a total of 431 pins.
On day one, SVC started the day with wins over Ursuline and Penn State-Behrend. Up next was a matchup with first-year program Alvernia University, which has gotten off to a strong start this year. SVC won the first game by just two pins, before Alvernia fought back and won the next two, opening a 37-pin lead going into game four. The Bearcats earned an 11-pin win in that game, but still trailed by 26 pins going into the final game. Strikes by
Jackie Koehler in the 9th frame and
Abby Justice in the 10th lifted SVC to a 175-134 win, and a 17-pin match victory. The Bearcats closed day one with wins over La Roche and host Pitt-Greensburg.
The second day, SVC started strong with a 227 game against New Jersey City University, but after four games, the Bearcat lead was just 6 pins. The Bearcats stepped up in game five, shooting a 215 game and winning the match 905-841. After a bye round, SVC finished the day with wins over Penn State-Altoona and Mount Aloysius. SVC finished strong, recording its weekend high game (914) in the final match.
Freshman
Daphne Stuber led the team on day one with a 189.1 average, while senior
Jackie Koehler was tops on day two, at 187.3.
Sabine Strickland was second on the team in average both days (177/172).
The Saint Vincent JV team also took part in the event, and was led on day one by freshman
Rachael Babinsack (164.4), follwed by
Marissa Jones (158.5). Babinsack was tops on day two as well, at 174.8, followed by
Lexi Pilyih (168.4).
Saint Vincent is now 16-1 on the season in NCAA competition, and will be on the road in Buffalo the next two weekends. November 11-12, SVC will take part in the Storm Daemen Classic, followed by the first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference tournament, November 17-19.
