No. 4 Vanderbilt Bowling traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana from Nov. 15-17 for the Colonial Lanes Classic hosted by Tulane University. Boasting an 11-2 record and an average of 208.2 pins per game, the Commodores ended the weekend in second — their highest finish of the season.
“I felt like we did everything we needed to do to win the tournament,” head coach John Williamson said. “More or less, from start to finish, we were the best team there. We just didn’t finish.”
Vanderbilt opened the weekend with a starting lineup of Isabel Allen, Haley Lindley, Kailee Channell, Victoria Varano and Paige Peters — a slight departure from the usual lineup as Alyssa Ballard has traditionally started in place of Channell. The lineup change worked right from the start, however, as the Commodores rolled to a 4-1 finish on the day. Vanderbilt ended Friday in second place in the leaderboard, with wins over No. 17 Wichita State, No. 15 Newman, Emmanuel and Alabama State, but a loss to No. 11 Stephen F. Austin.
The Commodores were even more dominant on Saturday — winning all five of their traditional matches. They rolled off wins against No. 18 Sacred Heart, Oklahoma Christian, Alabama A&M and No. 8 Sam Houston State. The only close match came against Prairie View A&M, but the Commodores still won by seven pins.
Ballard led the way for Vanderbilt on Saturday, averaging 218.2 pins per game on the day — good for fifth place among all tournament bowlers. Senior Kaylee Hitt, who played all of Saturday after sitting Friday, also had a marquee day for the Commodores, bowling an average of 211.4 pins that was good for ninth place individually.
“[Hitt’s] been a victim of a deep bench,” Williamson said. “It was nice to see somebody that’s worked really hard come in and take advantage of a situation the way she was able to.”
With a stellar 208.2-pin average, Vanderbilt entered bracket play as the top-seeded team and rematched Stephen F. Austin in the day’s first best-of-seven series. After losing to the Lumberjacks in group play, the Commodores did not let their conference rival get the better of them a second time. Vanderbilt took Game One by a whopping 62 pins and cruised the rest of the way to a 4-1 series victory, only faltering 234-214 in Game Three.
The Commodores played bottom-placed Texas Southern in what was effectively an exhibition match after already securing a spot in the championship match thanks to previous performances. Despite the step down in opposing competition, Vanderbilt refused to take its foot off the gas, and the Commodores blanked the Tigers 4-0. A third match was set between the Commodores and the Lumberjacks after Stephen F. Austin defeated Sacred Heart 4-1 — this time for the title.
Game One of the rubber match was neck and neck, with Varano hitting a spare in the 10th frame to tie the game 193-193. The game was split with half a point going to each team, per tournament rules. Game Two was almost as close as the first, with Vanderbilt eking out a victory 226-224.
In Game Three, a two-pin open in the second frame proved costly, as the Commodores went on to lose 204-226 despite Lindley throwing three strikes in the 10th frame. Lindley’s momentum carried over to Game Four and proved infectious for the whole team, as the Commodores went on to throw nine consecutive strikes and drub the Lumberjacks 270-181.
The momentum only lasted for one game, however, as another open in the sixth frame cost Vanderbilt a shot at Game Five. With the series tied 2.5-2.5, the Commodores attempted to take destiny into their own hands in Game Six. In frames two-through-nine, Vanderbilt threw eight consecutive strikes and finished with 269 points — enough for a sizable win. The Commodores just needed to throw together one more elite performance and they could go home champions.
Game Seven looked at first like it would provide just such a performance. Through three frames, the Commodores totaled two strikes and a spare, while Stephen F. Austin only managed two spares and an open. But then the Lumberjacks caught life, throwing five straight strikes to take a narrow lead over the Commodores. The game went down to the very last frame, where Stephen F. Austin squeaked out a five-point victory after hitting a spare and a strike.
Through three matches, each team had one win each. Through seven games, they had three-and-a-half wins each. The two teams simply could not quit each other. After 1 hour and 45 minutes of bowling, Vanderbilt and Stephen F. Austin headed to a half-game of five frames to determine the winner of the 2024 Colonial Lanes Classic.
Channell opened for the Commodores and left a narrow split that proved just wide enough for an open. A strike on the opposing side had Vanderbilt playing from behind from the beginning. Lindley stepped up next and bowled a spare, while an open from the Lumberjacks breathed life back into Vanderbilt’s chances.
What is given can be easily taken away, and the life given back to the Commodores was immediately sucked back out with a single-pin open from Ballard. Vanderbilt followed up with a couple of spares, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the strikes thrown by the Lumberjacks. Thus, despite fighting an excruciating, two-hour battle down to the final frames, the Commodores came up just short in New Orleans.
“We had some opportunities in Game One that we could’ve gotten,” Williamson said. “When you give a capable team like Stephen F. Austin outs — in any sport if you give a team an additional out or an additional break — you’re more than likely going to pay for it.”
Vanderbilt Bowling will be back in action on Nov. 22 when the team travels to Howell, New Jersey, for the Garden State Classic.
