Altoona, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's bowling team earned a 9th place finish at the Red Flash Invitational in Altoona, Pa. over the weekend. Sophomore team member Brookelyn Garvey stood out for the Panthers, as she was named to the All-Tournament team.
The Panthers took on some tough competition at the three-day event, as they bowled against collegiate teams representing all three divisions of the NCAA.
The Panthers started the weekend with a 3-2 opening day as they bowled in the traditional format. The Panthers bowled their best game of the day in the opener, as they easily dispatched of Penn State-Altoona 924-586. Brookelyn Garvey rolled a 265 to lead the Panthers to victory. They followed this up with an 881-833 victory over Division I Wagner. Jordyn Graham posted the high score in this match as she tallied a 212. After starting 2-0, the Panthers took on the hosts, St. Francis, and lost 785-956. They came right back in the following match and got back in the win column against LaRoche. They defeated the Redhawks 874-687, using another big game from Garvey who posted a 214. The Panthers closed the day with a tough 822-883 loss to Division II Wilmington. Ekaterina Wilson had her best game of the day, finishing with a 184.
Garvey finished the traditional format with an average of 203.6, the third-best of the day. Her score of 265 in the first match of the day was the best score of any bowler in the traditional format. Graham finished the day with a 173.4 average, while Sarah Newland Meghan Schwab and Wilson all had strong days with averages of 164.8, 160.8, and 154.6.
Day two of the competition moved into the Baker format. The Panthers got off to a strong start, as they were able to win their first two matches. They opened the day with an 803-783 victory over Walsh and followed that up with an 873-724 win over LaRoche. Unfortunately, the Panthers were unable to maintain momentum, as they lost the final three matches of the day. They struggled in their third and fourth matches of the afternoon, posting their lowest 5-game baker scores of the day. They fell to Bloomfield 733-753 and followed that up with a 758-850 loss to Felician. In their final match of the day, the Panthers got back on track, posting an 857, but saw their opponents, D'Youville, bowl extremely well to defeat them 857-884. The Panthers finished the preliminary rounds with a 5-5 record, sending them to the final day of the competition as the 7th seed.
The final seeding day of the competition featured up to three Baker matches, with a best of 7 format. They began the day with a rematch against D'Youville. The Panthers were able to jump out to an early lead, winning the first game 167-161, but quickly lost momentum as they struggled in the second game, falling 127-155. The Saints took over from there, winning the following three games to win the match.
Dropping down a level, the Panthers then faced Division II Bloomfield. The Panthers once again got off to a good start, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. They won the first game 163-142 and followed that up with a 153-129 victory. Bloomfield was then able to even the match up, winning two straight. Tied at two, the Panthers won the 5th game with a score of 170-128. Needing one more victory to secure an 8th place finish, the Panthers could not hold off the Bears, losing the 6th fame 138-180 and the final 152-188.
To close the event, the Panthers were matched up with fellow AMCC school LaRoche. The Panthers lost the opener for the first time on the day but battled back with a 153-140 win in game two. The Panthers were unable to build any momentum as LaRoche won game 3 before the Panthers once again evened the match at 2 with a 182-150 win in game 4. The RedHawks put the Panthers on the brink of a loss with a 158-166 win in game 5, but the Panthers responded to win the 6th game 166-161 and force another deciding 7th game. In the final game, the Panthers were able to prevail in the closest contest of the day, securing a 9th place finish with a 140-138 victory.
Overall, the Panthers went 6-7 on the weekend, to go along with the 9th place finish. Brookelyn Garvey was named to the All-Tournament Team for her performance. She had the third-highest traditional pinfall at 1,018 and had the highest single-game score with a 265.
The Panthers will now return their focus to the AMCC, as they will host the 2nd AMCC Round Robin at Billye Lanes in Bradford next weekend. The Panthers will face each of the other 8 teams in the conference in a Baker format with total pinfall determining the winner. Due to COVID mitigation efforts, spectators will not be allowed at the event, however, every match will be live-streamed on AMCC.tv. Check out the tournament web page here, for more information.
