ADDISON, Ill. — The University of Pikeville women's bowling team captured the championship at the NAIABCA Fall Invite, earning the tournament title after advancing through the Mega Matches on Sunday, October 18, in Addison, Illinois.
Invite 1: Team Games
UPIKE opened the tournament with a third-place finish in the traditional team games, totaling 4,571 pins across five games. The Bears finished just 16 pins behind tournament leader Savannah College of Art and Design-Savannah, which claimed first place with 4,587 pins. Indiana Institute of Technology finished second with 4,584 pins, keeping the top three teams separated by just 16 pins.
Kaytlen Peck led UPIKE in the individual standings, finishing 16th with 930 pins across five games for an average of 186. Peck recorded her best game in the second, rolling a 202.
Katarina Hagler followed in 22nd place with 912 pins and an average of 182.4. Hagler saved her strongest performance for the fifth game, posting a 215 to close out her day.
Ragan Mathis averaged 195.75 across four games while totaling 783 pins, recording games of 209, 212, 182 and 180. Allison Taylor averaged 194 across four games, finishing with 776 pins and rolling a pair of 204 games.
Taylor Sams added 641 pins across four games for an average of 160.25, while Sasha Uchwal totaled 372 pins in two games, averaging 186. Allie Miles also competed in one game, recording 157 pins.
Invite 2: Baker Games
UPIKE continued its strong performance in the second qualifying event, finishing second in the Baker games with 4,755 pins. The Bears stayed within striking distance of the top of the leaderboard, finishing just 62 pins behind first-place SCAD, which totaled 4,817 pins.
Spring Arbor University placed third with 4,752 pins, just three pins behind UPIKE, while William Penn University finished fourth with 4,678 pins.
With a third-place finish in Invite 1 and a runner-up finish in Invite 2, UPIKE earned the No. 1 seed entering the Mega Matches.
Mega Matches
As the top seed, UPIKE competed on lane 21 against No. 4 Indiana Tech on lane 22. The Bears dropped the opening team game, 907-877, but responded in the first round of Baker games, earning a 785-776 victory to even the match.
The teams then advanced to a decisive round of Baker games, where UPIKE delivered a strong performance to secure the match in four games. The Bears opened with wins of 186-156 and 203-192 before Indiana Tech claimed the third game, 197-172. UPIKE closed out the match with a 175-145 victory, advancing to the championship match against No. 2 SCAD.
UPIKE carried that momentum into the championship, defeating SCAD to claim the NAIABCA Fall Invite title and finish atop the field.
The tournament championship capped a strong showing for the Bears, who consistently remained near the top of the standings throughout qualifying before delivering in the Mega Matches.
UPIKE will return to action at the Lynne Jordan / Brandon Burns Memorial Tournaments on Oct. 24-25 in Smyrna, Tennessee, hosted by the Mid-South Conference.
--UPIKE--
