In February of 2017, Saint Vincent College announced the addition of women's bowling as a varsity sport, competing at the NCAA level. Three years later, in January of 2020, a Club men's bowling team was formally announced. The "new" Bearcat bowling teams are not the college's first venture into the sport.
For many years, prior to becoming a co-educational college, Saint Vincent had a very successful men's bowling team. The Bearcats began competition in December of 1964 under head coach Andy Verzilli. The team was then briefly coached by Fr. Maurice Rudiselle, before Brother Patrick Lacey, O.S.B., took the reins in 1970.
Under Brother Pat in 1978, the Bearcat bowling team won the college's first - and to this date only - national collegiate championship, as the team was named National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Champions.
In fact, the Bearcats are still the reigning NAIA Bowling Champions, as the NAIA discontinued the sport after the 1978 season. It returned to the association in 2010-11, but is still considered an "emerging sport" within the organization, so a national champion has yet to be crowned.
Saint Vincent left the NAIA in 2006 to join the NCAA, where bowling has grown rapidly in recent years as a women's sport. The NCAA does not sponsor men's bowling.
The old Bearcat team practiced and competed on lanes that were located in a large game room/recreational area in Kennedy Hall, which is now the Robert S. Carey Student Center.
After the NAIA discontinued the sport, the lanes were no longer used for varsity sport purposes, and were eventually removed as part of a remodeling project in the early 1990s.
Remnants of the lanes can still be found on campus. There are three benches outside of the dining area in Placid Hall that were made from the old Saint Vincent lanes.
A piece of the lanes is kept on the wall in a facilities workshop as a tribute to the late Br. Pat
(photo).
The trophy from the 1978 NAIA Championship is still housed in the Carey Center trophy case, just a few feet away from the location of the original Saint Vincent bowling alley.
SVC BOWLING TIMELINE:
1954 – Kennedy Hall Lanes open.
1962 – NAIA adds men’s bowling.
December 5, 1964 – First varsity match for SVC Bowling team. SVC wins 2 of three matches against Clarion and Indiana. Al Hagovsky leads the team with a 191 average for the day.
1965 – Western PA Section 2 Championship under coach Andy Verzilli. Tom Scott leads the team with a 187 average.
1967 – Under Coach Fr. Maurice Rudiselle, SVC wins the NIBA Regional Championship, going 21-7, but the NAIA National Championship was canceled. SVC defeated the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon to win the title.
1968 - SVC receives an invitation to the NAIA National Championship and finishes 5th under Coach Fr. Maurice Rudiselle.
1972 – SVC’s Jack Krall, with an average of 184.7, is selected as the top bowler in NAIA District 18. Krall and the Bearcats were led by head coach Br. Patrick Lacey and assistant coach Br. Brian Clark, who was a former SVC varsity bowler. Team finishes second in the NAIA Tournament and third in the WPIBL Invitational.
1973 – SVC finishes first in NAIA District 18 tournament held at Clarion, then first in the NAIA District 7 Tournament in Glendale, WV. The team later traveled to Boise, Idaho for Collegiate Team Championship Bowling Tournament, finishing 5
th among 9 schools. The Bearcats ended their season in the NAIA National Tournament, finishing third in Kansas City.
1978 – SVC’s first – and to this date only – National Collegiate Championship. Br. Patrick Lacey guides the team to the NAIA title after winning the WPIBL Southern Division crown. (story link)
1978-79 - The NAIA drops bowling as an official intercollegiate sport, leaving Saint Vincent as the reigning champions but with no opportunity for national post-season play.
1982 – The SVC men's bowling team folds at the conclusion of the 1981-82 season.
1994 – Kennedy Hall Lanes removed as part of building renovation, replaced by the SVC Wellness Center.
February, 2017 - SVC announces that women's bowling will be the college's 23rd varsity sport.
November 3, 2017 - SVC begins its first ever women's bowling season with a victory over Hilbert College on the road in Hamburg, NY. Samm Firestone has the high game for the day, 204.
February 1-2, 2020 - Women's program sweeps AMCC Round Robin, posting a perfect 9-0 record over two days of competition.
January, 2020 - SVC announces the addition of Club men's bowling
February 21, 2021 - The Bearcat men's program traveled to Pittsburgh for a matchup with Robert Morris University, the college's old rival from the 1960s and 1970s. Eddie Zuzak throws the first ball for the new Bearcat team, a strike, and finished with the highest score of the day, 255.
February 9, 2024 - SVC's women's team shoots a 299 Baker game, with 11 strikes and a 9-count on the final throw in a match against Daemen University at Lincoln Lanes.
December 20-21, 2024 - Bearcats earn highest-ever finish in a USBC Tier 1 event, finishing third in the Collegiate Shoot-Out in Las Vegas, NV
March 23, 2025- Bearcats win first ever AMCC Championship, defeating William Smith College to advance to their first ever NCAA Tournament
April 3, 2025- Bearcats compete in first ever NCAA Tournament match against Marian University in Rochester, NY
