No. 3 Vanderbilt Bowling closed its regular season by hosting the Music City Classic at Smyrna Bowling Center in Smyrna, Tennessee, from March 14-16. The first two days of competition saw the Commodores flourish at their home bowling alley, but the third day was not as fortuitous.
March 14
The tournament’s opening day had each team play five sets of five Baker matches. Using a rotation predominantly composed of Isabel Allen, Kailee Channell, Kaylee Hitt, Victoria Varano and Sydney Bohn, head coach John Williamson’s squad overcame a low-scoring opening match to go undefeated for the remainder of the day.
The third-ranked Commodores had a slow start, falling to No. 22 UMES 935-925. However, Allen and Co. triumphantly responded, cruising past No. 25 Emmanuel 1,049-920. The Black and Gold kept the ball rolling — literally and figuratively — with a 1,077-803 blowout of Howard. In its best showing of the competition, Vanderbilt secured a dominant 1,121-979 victory over No. 12 Sacred Heart. Williamson’s unit ended the day by totaling 1,020 pins on a bye — enough to propel the Commodores into second place on the tournament leaderboard.
March 15
On Saturday, each team competed in five traditional matches. Vanderbilt continued its strong performance, finishing the day in second place and poised for a podium finish.
The Commodores began the weekend with an electrifying 1,083-1,041 upset win over No. 2 Jacksonville State — an effort spearheaded by Varano and Allen’s 247 and 237 games, respectively. The Black and Gold were unable to carry such dominance into the ensuing match, falling to Youngstown State in a heartbreaking 997-996 loss. The ‘Dores would then lose the next two matches to Stephen F. Austin and Wichita State, 1,053-1,010 and 1,080-970, respectively. Despite the losses, consistently high pin totals and a 1,044-886 whooping of Oakland Christian to end the afternoon fastened the Commodores into the No. 2 spot on the leaderboard.
March 16
The third and final day of the tournament began with Maryville’s narrow 996-979 defeat of the Commodores. Hoping to rebound, the Black and Gold faced off against the second-ranked juggernaut, Jacksonville State, in a best-of-seven Baker series. The back-and-forth matchup came down to the very last game, which the Gamecocks convincingly won 247-178 to clinch the series, 4-3. The ‘Dores suffered a similar fate to Maryville, losing 4-3 in another series of gritty Baker matches. The day’s losses dropped the Commodores from the top three on the leaderboard, resulting in a fourth-place finish at home to close out their regular season.
“[Sunday] was frustrating,” Williamson said. “I felt like we competed okay, but we just made mistakes at the wrong time and we lost three close matches because of it.”
Two Commodores were named to the Music City Classic All-Tournament Team after top-10 individual finishes. Varano was Vanderbilt’s top individual scorer, and her 1,272 series secured her the fourth-place spot on the singles leaderboard. Allen’s 1,266 series was enough for a seventh-place finish and her fourth All-Tournament Team honor of the season.
Vanderbilt is set to compete in the 2025 Conference USA Bowling Championship, scheduled for March 20–23 at Colonial Lanes in Harahan, Louisiana.
