No. 2 Vanderbilt Bowling finished fourth at the MidWinter Classic in Jonesboro, Arkansas, from Feb. 14-16. Despite a strong opening two days to the Arkansas State-hosted tournament, the Commodores fell flat in bracket play with a string of three losses on the final day.
“Each day of the tournament plays a little different,” head coach John Williamson said. “I feel like the fact that it was a little different isn’t necessarily new. I think it was a different different than they’re used to.”
Vanderbilt opened the tournament with a caliber of play commensurate with its No. 2 ranking, as the Black and Gold scored over 1,000 pins in four of five matches on opening day. Wins over No. 14 Wisconsin Whitewater (1,074-931), Alabama State (1,138-912) and No. 5 Youngstown State (1,046-978) came alongside losses to No. 9 Stephen F. Austin (985-964) and No. 7 Wichita State (1,090-1,061). With an average of 211.3 pins per game, the Commodores stood in second place entering the second day of the competition.
Vanderbilt improved on its already impressive performance on Feb. 15 by scoring over 1,000 pins in all five matches. The Commodores earned wins over No. 3 Jacksonville State (1,041-962), No. 10 Maryville (1,039-991), No. 8 Sam Houston State (1,042-1,042 tiebreaker) and No. 13 McKendree (1,162-977). Vanderbilt even maintained its hot streak when it didn’t face an opposing team, as the Black and Gold put up 1,025 pins in a midday bye match (in which the score still counted towards the team’s pin average).
“I felt like we had a general understanding of what needed to happen in terms of shotmaking,” Williamson said. “We were very confident in executing that.”
The Commodores entered bracket play on Feb. 16 in second place and with the opportunity to lock up a spot in the championship match. In a rematch with Jacksonville State, Williamson opted to start Isabel Allen at leadoff, followed by Kailee Channell, Victoria Varano, Saphyre Nofuente and Sydney Bohn at anchor. The fact that Nofuente and Bohn, both first-year players, were starters with a championship match appearance on the line reflects both the depth of the Commodores’ roster and Williamson’s year-over-year faith in his younger players.
Choosing to play younger players, however, does come with a cost to experience — and that lack of experience materialized as the Commodores were injudiciously swept by the Gamecocks. An open in the fourth frame of the first game was the first mistake and one from which the team spiraled, scoring only 158 and 159 pins in the first two games. Despite slight improvements to 193 and 190 pins in Games Three and Four, the Commodores still never gained enough ground to snatch even a game away from the defending national champions.
“The pair that we bowled Jacksonville State on on Sunday was the same we bowled Sam Houston State on,” Williamson said. “For whatever reason, the picture of what happened went away. From the beginning, there was a little bit of a panic that what we’d done all weekend wasn’t working.”
Vanderbilt still had an opportunity to qualify for the championship match if it could get past Wichita State. This time around, Allen remained at the leadoff spot, while Haley Lindley, Channell, Varano and Bohn rounded out the lineup. After a 194-pin performance in Game One, the Commodores improved to breach the 200-pin mark in the next three games. Nevertheless, in a sport without defense, one team can’t control how the other team is going to play, and the Shockers played lights out. When Vanderbilt scored 203, they scored 215. When Vanderbilt scored 213, they scored 226. Miraculously, even when Vanderbilt scored 236, they scored 248, and Wichita State dispatched the Commodores in a clean sweep.
Now playing for third place, Vanderbilt found its stride in the final match against Youngstown State. Both teams traded blows in Games One through Game Six, as neither squad managed to win consecutive games. With the series on the line in Game Seven, the Commodores faltered early, leaving opens in the second and third frames. Two more opens in frames five and eight spelled doom for the Black and Gold, as the team lost 217-154. Despite an auspicious start to the Valentine’s Day weekend, the Commodores found themselves with the lowest possible finish they could have entering bracket play.
“I feel like we’re good enough and talented enough that it really shouldn’t have been that big of a deal,” Williamson said of the pressure. “I’m not concerned about it being a harbinger or precursor of things in the future.”
At the individual level, Bohn placed third in the entire tournament with a traditional match average of 228.6 pins per game. This marks the first all-tournament team selection in the first-year’s young career in the Black and Gold. Following close behind here were Varano in seventh and Nofuente in 12th, with averages of 221.4 and 215.02 pins per game, respectively.
“I feel like the two freshmen [Bohn and Nofuente] were remarkably good all weekend,” Williamson said.
After a weekend off, Vanderbilt will be back in action at the North Carolina A&T Stallings Invitational in Greensboro, North Carolina, from Feb. 28 to March 2. The tournament is the penultimate competition of the regular season for the Commodores.
