The Saint Vincent women's bowling team went undefeated for the weekend and captured its second straight Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championship, sweeping three matches over three days at the event, held in Pittsburgh.

SVC, entering as the #1 seed, defeated #5 Hilbert College on Friday, then downed #2 William Smith College on Saturday, before winning the championship against #3 Alvernia University on Sunday.  All three matches, which were best-of-three series, finished with scores of 2-0.

FRIDAY
The Bearcats got off to a slow start on Friday, falling behind Hilbert by 50 pins after just four frames of the Traditional game.  Sophomore Lilly Houle led the Bearcat rally, throwing five consecutive strikes in frames 6-10, en route to a team best 238 game.  Mareana Pilyih had six strikes in the game and finished with a 197, while Kaylie Kurland added a triple in frames 7-9 before finishing with a 193, as Saint Vincent came back to win by a score of 947-896.  The match then switched over to the Baker team score format, with the point decided by a five-game total.  SVC fell behind Hilbert by six pins after two games, 331-325, but bounced back with strikes in frames 3-4-5 of game three, before Pilyih stepped up and threw three strikes in the 10th to give SVC a decisive 912-790 win, to complete the 2-0 match victory.

SATURDAY
Advancing in the winners bracket of the double-elimination tournament, SVC once again got off to a very slow start against William Smith College, falling behind by 40 pins after six frames.  Houle once again started the rally, this time in frame 7.  Both Houle and Skyy Nicholls finished the game with six strikes in a row, as SVC erased the deficit and scored a 988-957 win.  Nicholls had the top game with a 221, while Houle added a 215 and Pilyih added a 200.

In the Baker portion of the match, both teams threw well in game one, with the Herons taking an 8-pin lead early, 192-184.  SVC won the second game by 11 pins to take a 3-pin advantage.  The team then threw strikes on six of seven shots in game three, earning a 222-191 victory, before holding on for a 1941-83 win in game four.  Entering the fifth game, the Bearcats had a 45-pin lead.  The Herons outscored SVC in that final game, 181-158, but the Bearcats had enough of an advantage to hold on for a 934-912 win to end the match.

SUNDAY
Alvernia University defeated William Smith late Saturday afternoon to earn a trip to the finals on Sunday and faced the Bearcats in a Traditional game to start the match.  Both teams struggled to score on difficult lane conditions, and the match lead was never more than 12 pins from frames three through eight, with both teams trading the advantage.  In the 9th frame, the Bearcats threw strikes on four of their five shots, from Houle, Daphne Stuber, Brooke Street and Kurland, while Nicholls covered a difficult spare to help the team move ahead by 30 pins.  However, three missed shots in the 10th frame opened the door for the Golden Wolves.  They had a chance to tie the match in the final frame but were unable to get the pins to fall, as SVC held on for an 832-821 win.

In the Baker round, SVC won the first game by a score of 180-176, but game two proved to be the difference in the match.  The Bearcats threw strikes in six frames and pulled away to a 206-139 win, giving the team a 71-pin advantage with just three games remaining.  SVC then managed to win all those remaining games by scores of 186-184, 213-188 and 175-144, to secure a 960-831 win and the conference title.

Houle and Stuber were named to the All-Tournament team for the weekend.  Houle shined in Traditional games, with scores of 238, 215 and 202, for an average of 218.3.  Stuber did her best work in the Baker games, averaging 200.8 over 24 frames.  

SVC now has a record of 45-3 in NCAA matches.  The team's .938 winning percentage is the highest in the nation.  The NCAA selection show will take place this Wednesday, March 25, as the Bearcats will find out where they will go for their NCAA Regional from April 2-5.