The Saint Vincent women's bowling team won eight of 10 matches, finishing second out of eight teams in the Grapevine Classic, hosted by Penn State-Behrend in Erie, Pennsylvania.
 
The Bearcats averaged 180.1 for the weekend, falling 107 pins short to tournament winner Daemen University, an NCAA Division II program.
 
DAY ONE
SVC started the tournament with a hard-fought win over Penn State-Behrend, 834-793.  The Bearcats got off to a slow start, but led throughout the game.  Up by only 10 pins after 7 the team managed to pull away late for a 41-pin win.  Freshman Kaylie Kurland had the top score with a 191.
 
Against Pitt-Greensburg, the Bearcats once again found themselves in a tight match, despite improving by nearly 80 pins as a team.  Kurland (211) and classmate Mareana Pilyih added a 210, as the Bearcats won by 31 pins, 911-880.
 
Next up was a match against Ursuline College, as the Bearcats improved to 3-0 on the afternoon with a 927-882 victory. Senior Sabine Strickland started the game with 4 strikes in her first five shots en route to a 207.  Sophomore Skyy Nicholls threw four strikes in a row late in the game, finishing with a 197, while Kurland added a 187.
 
The fourth match of the day was between the tournament's only two undefeated teams, SVC and Daemen University.  The Bearcats fell behind early and were never able to recover, losing by a score of 936-867.  Nicholls had the top score for the Bearcats, 192.
 
Saint Vincent bounced back in the final game of the afternoon, defeating Hilbert College by a score of 925-769.  Nicholls once again led the way with a 221, while freshmen Brooke Street and Pilyih combined for a 191.  Sophomore Daphne Stuber added a 190.
 
For the day, Nicholls led the team with a 194.4 average, followed on the scoresheet by Pilyih (192.6) and Kurland (180.2). 
 
DAY TWO
The second day featured five matches consisting of five Baker team games each, with total pins deciding the win or loss. 

SVC got off to a strong start in the opening match against Pitt-Bradford, with games of 204, 189 and 180, building a 110-pin advantage.  SVC won the point by a score of 901-789.
 
In the second matchup, against Division II D'Youville University, the Bearcats opened with scores of 213 and 209, pulling away to a 937-760 victory.
 
The third match of the day was against the host school, Penn State-Behrend, and the Bearcats fell behind by 30 pins after game one.  However, the team stormed back with games of 188 and 202 to claim the lead, before going on to a 912-756 win.
 
In match four, the Bearcats had an opportunity to avenge their earlier loss to Daemen, and opened a quick 41-pin lead with a 193-152 win in the first game.  However, the Wildcats bounced back to win the next four games, defeating SVC by a total of 919-877.
 
The final match of the weekend was a position round game, which once against pitted #1 seed Daemen against SVC, the #2 seed.  The Bearcats once again started strong, winning the first game 194-137.  After two games, Saint Vincent led by 69 pins after a 204-192 victory.  Daemen gained ground the next two games, winning 197-183 and 182-153, leaving the Bearcats with a 26-pin advantage going to the final game of the weekend.  After a slow start which put SVC down by 20, the team bounced back and won the game, 180-177, earning the match victory, 914-885.
 
In Baker play, Pilyih led the scoresheet with a game equivalent average of 193.4.  Stuber was second at 189.1, followed by Street (188.3) and Strickland (181.6).
 
Nicholls finished second among individuals in Traditional games, and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
SVC (8-2) will return to action on Saturday (October 19), traveling to Columbus, Ohio for an Ohio Bowling Conference event.