(LINCOLN, Neb.) – Despite not winning a match, the Statesmen women’s bowling team once again proved it is one of the nation’s elite programs as it competed at the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships Thursday and Friday.
William Penn went head-to-head against 15 of the top squads in the entire nation, including several other NAIA institutions as well as teams from NCAA Division I, Division II, and JUCO.
The navy and gold put themselves in the middle of the conservation by picking up 4,563 pins in 24 games of Baker qualifying to finish 10th out of 16 teams. WPU was as high as fifth after eight rounds before falling back, while Delaware State won qualifying with 5,000 pins.
Earning as the #10 seed in the double-elimination bracket event, the Statesmen met #7 seed St. Francis (Ill.) in the opening round. The team claimed the first game, but could not keep pace in dropping a 4-2 decision to be moved to the consolation bracket. Match scores were 201-160, 199-232, 168-201, 181-182, 245-224, 210-224.
William Penn tried to stay alive in the loser’s bracket and had #15 Newman (Kan.) on the ropes with a 2.5-0 lead, but failed to close the door. The navy and gold still had an opportunity to advance, but could only come up with a 198-198 tie in the seventh and final game to fall 4-3 and end their campaign. Match scores were 189-189, 172-157, 215-198, 161-187, 202-212, 188-211, 198-198.
It was WPU’s second trip to nationals in program history.
Team members included Nicole Craft (So., Wakefield, Neb., Physical Education), Abbey Fangman (Fr., Waterloo, Iowa, Elementary Education), Audra Farley (Sr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Education), Kaylee Gerken (Jr., Dubuque, Iowa, Elementary Education), Kayla Gifford (So., Camanche, Iowa, Biology), Nicole Mottier (Fr., Madison, Wis., Computer Science), Amber Ovel (Jr., Waterloo, Iowa, Business Management), and Bailey Palmer (So., Ottumwa, Iowa, Undecided).
