MARIETTA, Ga. – Milligan University's women's bowling team, ranked No. 2 in the nation, traveled to Marietta, Ga. for the Bowlero Southern Collegiate Classic on Saturday and Sunday. The Buffaloes continued their torrid start to the season, notching second-place qualifying placement and then finishing third overall after match play.
Five team games and 16 baker contests made up the format for qualifying, and bracket play would follow on day two for the top four teams in the standings.
Yet another All-Tournament performance from
Emily Cheesman led the way, as she finished in fourth place as an individual with 1,029 pins in five team games. She managed a 205.8-pin average for the weekend.
Taylor Davis' 19
th-place conclusion included 919 pins and an average of 183.8 for the tournament. She was followed by
Emilee Horton, who came away with 22
nd place after knocking down 914 pins for a 182.8 average over 10 frames.
Milligan's JV squad—that placed first out of two teams—had a large group of strong finishers, with
Braeton Wilson snatching 32
nd-place honors on an 876-pin weekend.
Londyn Cates (40
th),
Molly Burnett (42
nd),
Gianna Bringham (43
rd) and
Alexis Wright (47
th) all placed in the top 50 for the JV team.
Paige Fortier (55
th) played four of the five team games for the Varsity squad and managed a 175.3 average with 701 pins toppled.
Milligan struggled a bit through the team games on Saturday, notching 4,516 pins, which put them in sixth out of 14 squads. Then, however, they were one of only two squads to score over 3,000 pins in the 16 baker games. They totaled 3,019 to end up with 7,535 pins and earn a second-place qualification for match play. After falling 3-0 to SCAD Savannah in the first round of match play, it was a 3-0 sweep over University of Alabama at Birmingham in the consolation championship that earned the squad a third=place overall finish.
"Following a slow first day on the lanes," head coach
Brian Rickert explained, "it was all hands on deck on Sunday to get us the number two qualifying slot. The ladies really dug deep, and Emily continues to bowl with the best of them every time out. I am very proud of the resolve that the whole group showed this weekend."
A long break awaits the Buffaloes, as they look to get to full strength before the Glenn Carlson Invitational (Dec. 18-19) and Collegiate Shoot-Out (Dec. 20-21) in Las Vegas, Nev.
RESULTS
MATCH PLAY
