Women’s Bowling finished with a record of 5-8 at the Sunshine State Classic, hosted by Stephen F. Austin and Sacred Heart which stretched across three days this past weekend at Boardwalk Bowl in Orlando, FL.
“This weekend we had a few good wins and our physical games are improving,” said Director of Bowling Karen Grygiel. “We need to continue to work on our execution in pressure situations as well as our spare shooting.”
Monmouth placed 11th out of 14 at the event, highlighted by two victories over ranked opposition. They now have seven wins against top-ten teams this season.
The Hawks themselves became ranked at No. 22 a week ago in February’s National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Poll. Monmouth is now one of five Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) teams to be ranked in the top 25.
The Hawks went 2-3 in baker format, with victories over No. 18 Maryville and Bethune-Cookman. Monmouth’s highest pin total in baker format came against the latter, racking up 998 pins.
Monmouth slipped to 1-4 in traditional play, with the lone victory being the most significant of the weekend as they edged No. 2 Vanderbilt by a single pin, 997-996.
Monmouth did post a positive record in championship format, going 2-1 with wins against Florida A&M and Prairie View A&M.
Junior Kyla Day stood out this weekend as her 248 pin game in traditional play was both a career-high and a high for the team at the tournament. She led the team individually with an average of 207.8 pins over five games. Day has put in two or more 200+ pin performances in the team’s last three tournaments and nine total this season.
Freshman Saige Yamada and sophomore Erin Ohta had career-high games in the tournament, with 211 and 204 pins respectively.
Senior Haley Solberg set a new career-high of 237 pins in a game. She has now posted ten 200+ pin performances this season.
The Hawks ranked tenth in the tournament in average pins per game at 182.5.
Monmouth Bowling is back in action on Feb. 23, when they will travel to Greensboro, NC to participate in the second MEAC meet of the season at AMF All Star Lanes over a two-day stretch.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
