Lady Statesmen Fifth at NAIA Event
William Penn Women's Athletics
Indianapolis, Ind.–The William Penn women’s bowling team played for one national title in preparation for the big national event as it competed at the NAIA Invitational over the weekend.
William Penn tallied 4,409 pins in 24 Baker games to place fourth after qualifying. Webber International (Fla.) claimed the top seed for the bracket tournament with 4,700 pins.
The Lady Statesmen sat in second midway through qualifying, but fell off just a bit in the second half. The team recorded eight 200 games prior to bracket play.
The squad opened the tourney against fellow Midwest Collegiate Conference foe Grand View. The navy and gold defeated the 13th-seeded Vikings 3-0 and also swept #12 Campbellsville (Ky.) 3-0 to reach the championship semifinals.
Unfortunately, the navy and gold were dropped to the consolation side with a 3-2 loss to top-seeded Webber International.
William Penn’s weekend then ended abruptly with another loss, this time 3-1 to #5 Midland (Neb.). #3 Pikeville (Ky.) came out of the loser’s bracket to win the title, sweeping Webber International twice.
The tournament is called an invitational instead of a championship because the NAIA does not yet sponsor bowling as an intercollegiate sport. If 50 or more NAIA member institutions designate bowling as a varsity sport, then bowling will be eligible for championship sport status and an NAIA national championship.
Postseason awards were announced over the weekend with senior Breanne Underwood (Treynor, Treynor HS) topping the list by being named an NAIA Second-Team All-American.
The NAIA’s coaches also handed out academic recognition to Samantha McCauley (So., Mason City, Mason City HS), Kirstin Newberry (Jr., Holland, Mich., West Ottawa HS), and Underwood.
The accolades join the same awards from the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association, given out last month at the USBC Sectionals.
To be selected to the academic teams, a bowler must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.5 based on a 4.0 scale.
Next: William Penn travels to Lincoln, Neb. in two weeks to compete in the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships on April 19-21.
