No. 4 Vanderbilt Bowling concluded its fall season with a trip to Howell, New Jersey, for the Garden State Classic. From Nov. 22-24, the Commodores competed in a field of 20 universities, taking home third place in the process.
The Black and Gold got off to a blistering start at the tournament by rattling off wins in all five matches on opening day. With an average of 203.5 pins per game, the Commodores bested Holy Family (1,033-782), Bryant (1,012-922), Dominican (1,043-896), Coppin State (996-901) and Delaware State (1,004-905). Vanderbilt started off with a lineup featuring Isabel Allen, Alyssa Ballard, Paige Peters, Haley Lindley and Victoria Varano — but made rotations throughout the day.
On Saturday, the Commodores came down a bit in scoring but remained a notch better than all of their opponents. No. 6 North Carolina A&T was the first to fall (987-918), while Molloy (981-817), No. 12 Mount St. Mary’s (1,104-969), Niagara (913-891) and No. 20 Fairleigh Dickinson (1,072-1,056) were felled later in the day.
Lindley spearheaded Vanderbilt’s lineup throughout Saturday’s traditional matches. The sophomore averaged 213.6 pins per game — good enough for ninth individually at the tournament. Varano had the second-best weekend of any Commodore, averaging 207.2 pins per game.
Vanderbilt entered Sunday’s bracket play in fourth place despite boasting a 10-0 record. This is because tournament standings are based on point averages rather than match records. Accordingly, the Commodores were behind No. 1 Jacksonville State, No. 5 Nebraska and No. 3 Youngstown State.
Vanderbilt opened bracket play with a best-of-seven series against Youngstown State, the winner of which would get a shot at qualifying for the championship series. After taking Game One 212-202, the Commodores’ offense fell off a cliff — totalling only 156 points in Game Two. Tied 1-1, Vanderbilt scored three straight strikes in the back half of Game Three to take the series lead; but, the Penguins would soon tie the series back up with a narrow 199-191 win in Game Four.
After going back and forth through four games, the Commodores slowed down in Game Five, losing 239-189. Vanderbilt couldn’t get itself off the mat in Game Six, losing the game 197-180 and, with it, the series.
The Commodores were matched up alongside No. 9 Maryville following the loss. An open in Game One led to a narrow 214-212 loss, while the Black and Gold rebounded in Game Two with a 225-219 victory. In Game Three, Maryville fell victim to a classic trap in sports: using up all of your energy at once. The Saints racked up an impressive 268 points in Game Three but fell back to sub-200 in the following two games. That allowed the Commodores to take a 3-2 series lead — a lead they converted into a victory with a 247-217 win in Game Six.
The Commodores faced top-ranked Jacksonville State with third place on the line in the final series of the tournament. After a pair of bad Gamecock performances gave Vanderbilt a 2-0 lead, the defending champions bounced back, winning Games Three and Four. Five straight strikes to end Game Five gave the Commodores the win and the series lead, but Jacksonville State tied it up as Vanderbilt only managed two strikes in Game Six.
With the series — and bronze — at stake, the Gamecocks couldn’t produce a championship-level performance, only putting up 180 pins. An average Commodore performance of just 205 pins was enough to cross the finish line — concluding the series and the tournament.
With its fall schedule over, Vanderbilt will look back at fourth, fifth, second and third-place finishes. Despite not yet winning a tournament, the Commodores have gotten solid contributions from a deep bench of rotational pieces, including first-year Saphyre Nofuente.
Vanderbilt will be back in action at the Prairie View A&M Invitational in Arlington, Texas from Jan. 24-26.
