Stories of the Decade: #4

Oskaloosa–A crown in the inaugural league tournament and a high finish at nationals claims #4 on the Stories of the 2010s top-10 list.

The William Penn women’s bowling team enjoyed great success during the 2018-2019 campaign, but played its best when it counted.

The Statesmen tallied eight top-10 finishes during the season, highlighted by a bronze at the McKendree Baker Challenge.

One month later in early March, WPU competed at the first-ever Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship and topped the six-team standings. The squad qualified second, but recorded two easy 4-1 victories to move one win away from the title. Unfortunately, Mount Mercy clipped the Statesmen to force an if-necessary match.

William Penn led 3-1, but MMU bounced back to knot the bout at 3-3 and a winner-take-all seventh round ensued. The Statesmen were able to come out on top, however, with a 188-187 margin.

The winning shot can be viewed at https://twitter.com/HeartSportsNews/status/1102356630275047424

It was the program’s third conference title and first since taking the Midwest Collegiate Conference win in 2011-2012.

The championship earned the Statesmen an automatic bid to the NAIA National Invitational. WPU qualified fifth out of 12 squads and began bracket play with a 3-1 win over Grand View. It then took down Midland 3-1 before falling to Indiana Tech 3-2.

The navy and gold began to roll once again on the consolation side with victories over Grand View and Midland, but despite a 2-1 lead over eventual national champion SCAD Savannah (Ga.), the Statesmen could not hold off the Bees and were eliminated in third place.

Kayla Gifford led four William Penn players on the all-Heart teams as a first-team selection. Nicole Craft, Amber Ovel, and Bailey Palmer also garnered second-team recognition.