Women's Bowling | 2/25/2025 2:10:00 PM
SIOUX CITY, Ia. — The inaugural season for the Bulldogs rolled on through Sioux City as they competed in their first ever KCAC Championship Tournament and claimed a fourth place finish on Saturday (Feb. 22).
The Bulldogs, coming into the tournament as the third seed, first bowled against sixth seed Avila. It was a slow start as the Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead and were threatening to collect a sweep. The Bulldogs rebounded with a close win in game 3 and a clutch roll from
Veronyca West in the 10th frame of game four forced a match deciding game five. A hot start to game five saw the Bulldogs roll four strikes in the first five frames while Avila was only able to muster up four spares in response. Despite a couple of open frames by MC in frames seventh and eighth frames made the game close, but the Bulldogs held on and pulled out off the reverse sweep to advance in the winner's bracket.
Next up in the quest for a conference title was the two seeded Morningside. The Bulldogs dropped game one, but were able to rebound nicely in games two and three to take a 2-1 lead. Morningside was able to come up big in game four to force a fifth and final game to decide who advanced in the winner's bracket. A few splits and missed spares from both teams early in the game resulted in Morningside holding a seven pin lead halfway through the game. Four straight spares in frames six through nine flipped the script and gave MC a narrow three pin lead going into the tenth and final frame. West stepped up under pressure again, striking the first ball in the tenth frame and followed it up with a spare. The Morningside's anchor bowler stepped up big and threw three straight strikes to secure the victory and send MC down to the loser's bracket.
Still, with plenty to play for, the Bulldogs now faced fourth seeded Hastings. It was all MC as the team fired on all cylinders and completed a clean 3-0 sweep of the Broncos to move on and now took on the top seeded Ottawa Braves. A few unlucky breaks for MC and some missed spares along with fortunate breaks that went Ottawa's way tilted the match in favor of the Braves as they secured a 3-0 sweep, placing MC in fourth place when the dust settled and the tournament was complete.
The season is far from over for the Bulldogs as they take on the USBC ITC Sectionals in Fort Worth, Texas starting on Friday, March 7. The team will compete against 17 other institutions bowling a total of 64 baker games over the course of the two day event with the top four teams earning a bid to the USBC ITC National Championship tournament in Las Vegas, Nev. in April.
