Women’s bowling captures 2015 NAIA National Championship
0By Katelyn Simpson
The women’s bowling team captured its fourth national title and multiple NAIA awards last weekend. Men’s bowling finished its best-to-date at the national tournament, finishing in third place.
The weekend was off to a good start after the first day of competition as the women qualified as the number one seed and received a bye through the first round of match play. The men had a rough start but still received the first-round bye, qualifying eleventh.
At the banquet on Friday night, March 27, UPIKE received multiple awards that were voted on by all NAIA coaches. Juniors Fallon Tallman and Shelby Fromm were named Second-Team All-Americans on the women’s side, and junior Zachary Fylling was named Second-Team All-American on the men’s side. Senior Brianna Larson and junior Katelyn Simpson were named First-Team All-Americans. Freshman Megan Hedgespeth was honored with the Rookie of the Year award and Head Coach Ron Damron received his fourth National Coach of the Year award.
Success continued Saturday morning for the men’s and women’s teams. The women defeated Huntington University in the first matchup (3-1), Midland University in the second (3-1), and Ashford University in the third and final match of the day (3-0). The men had similar success as they defeated Lindenwood Belleville (3-1), defending champions Robert Morris University (3-2), and Midland University (3-0).
With both teams undefeated going into Sunday morning, the Bears prepared for their semifinal matches. The women faced Robert Morris University and after going down 0-2, they battled back and took the next three to remain the only undefeated team in the tournament.
The men battled hard against St. Ambrose University but came up short losing 3-1 to put them in the contenders’ bracket. The men then faced Robert Morris University but unfortunately came up short, 3-0, to end the men’s run, finishing in third place. Robert Morris ended up defeating St. Ambrose twice in the finals to capture their third straight NAIA National Championship.
On the women’s side, Robert Morris University defeated St. Francis University to win the contenders’ bracket and come back to face the UPIKE women once more. In the double elimination format, Robert Morris would have to beat the Bears two matches to claim the title. In the first match, the women tied 2.5-2.5 which forced a ninth and tenth frame roll off where Robert Morris edged out the Bears forcing a second best three-of-five match. In the second match, the Bears wasted no time taking an early 2-0 lead. The Bears came up just short in the third game but came back strong in the fourth to claim the NAIA National Championship.
To top off the weekend, senior Lucas Hohnstein was named to the men’s AllTournament Team which is voted on by opposing teams’ coaches.
“I am very proud of the way my teammates performed this weekend. They made my job of being an anchor much easier. Although we came up short of our ultimate goal, this experience has made us grow closer as a family. Third place is nothing to be ashamed of, and this will only motivate and give us the momentum we need going into the ITC’s in Wichita,” said Hohnstein.
Simpson was named to the women’s All-Tournament Team and was also voted the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, as voted on by all coaches at the tournament.
“I have been waiting for this moment for three years. We have been runners-up the last two years, and it feels amazing to finally grab the gold. Every practice has led up to this moment, and now it is time to focus on the USBC ITC Nationals,” said Tallman.
Both teams will be working hard during the next couple weeks to prepare for the final tournament of the season, the Intercollegiate Team Championships held in Wichita, Kan., April 15-18.