No. 1 Vanderbilt Bowling finished the weekend early with a 9-1 record at the Northeast Classic in New Castle, Delaware. The Commodores — in their first competition since being ranked No. 1 — exited the tournament a day early to avoid the wintery weather plaguing the northeast United States.
“We have the capability of being [a No. 1 team],” head coach John Williamson said. “We have a level of depth with this group that not many teams are able to compete with.”
That depth shined through from the very start of the tournament as first-year Sydney Bohn, who received limited play in the fall, joined the starting lineup in the leadoff position. Alyssa Ballard, Kailee Channell, Isabel Allen and Victoria Varano joined her to round out the initial rotation.
The new-look starting lineup proved effective in the opening match as the Commodores downed Long Island University 1,135-714. The Black and Gold would go on to best No. 18 Maryland-Eastern Shore (1,010-952), Morgan State (1,064-1,049), Molloy University (1,013-855) and No. 10 North Carolina A&T (961-932). The Commodores sat in fourth place in the standings after the first day of action with an average of 207.3 pins per game.
Vanderbilt, perhaps anxious to get back to Nashville before the arrival of the storm, played a bit out of its groove on Saturday — especially in the opening match. The Commodores managed only 910 pins in a day-opening loss to unranked Wagner (922-910) before rebounding for a 1,070-960 victory over Valparaiso. The momentum held for one more match against No. 24 Mercyhurst (1,078-904), but the Commodores failed to exceed 1,000 pins in their final two matches against Sacred Heart (983-905) and Norfolk State (948-844).
Uncharacteristically, Vanderbilt did not have a player make the all-tournament team. Ballard was the top-ranked Commodore at 31st individually with an average of 210 pins per game. Kaylee Hitt and first-year Saphyre Nofuente also bowled above 200 pins; however, they only played in four of Saturday’s five games, dropping them in the individual rankings.
“[Nofuente’s] still trying to get comfortable,” Williamson said. “She showed some signs yesterday of what her potential will ultimately be.”
Vanderbilt will be back in action next weekend as it travels to Arlington, Texas, for the Prairie View A&M Invitational from Jan. 24-26.