In its final tournament of the fall season, No. 3 Vanderbilt Bowling traveled to Harahan, Louisiana, to compete in the Colonial Lanes Classic. The stacked draw featured 11 nationally ranked programs, including eight within the top 10. The Commodores did not disappoint, rolling their way to a second-place finish.
Day 1
The Black and Gold kicked off a series of five Baker matches with convincing 1,098-954 and 1,111-955 wins over No. 8 Sam Houston State and Jackson State, respectively. The ‘Dores then dropped back-to-back matches to No. 6 Arkansas State, 991-933, and No. 2 Nebraska, 1,016-939. The Commodores’ final match of the afternoon was their strongest, as they cruised to a 1,112-951 win over No. 4 Youngstown State. At the end of the day, Vanderbilt’s cumulative pinfall of 5,193 was good for first place in the team standings.
“We had a really good start and finish,” head coach John Williamson said. “We need to be quicker getting comfortable in transition, but overall, it was a good day.”
Day 2
The Commodores were equally dominant on the second day of tournament play, which featured a set of five traditional matches. To start the day, Dannielle Henderson, Victoria Varano, Katelyn Abigania, Natalie Kent and Saphyre Nofuente each posted scores over 200 as the Black and Gold steamrolled No. 12 Duquesne, 1,085-984. Vanderbilt then tallied 1,139 pins in a blowout of Prairie View A&M, highlighted by a 251 game from Henderson. In their lowest-scoring match of the day, the Commodores remained in the driver’s seat, cruising to a 999-869 victory over Southern University.
Vanderbilt suffered its first and only loss of the afternoon to No. 7 North Carolina A&T, 1,044-1,025. Despite the loss, four Commodores earned scores over 200 pins — a testament to the team’s high-level play throughout the tournament. The Black and Gold avenged their defeat with a comfortable 1,072-928 victory over No. 19 Tulane. Again, four Commodores surpassed the 200-pin mark, led by Abigania’s 232 game. With a cumulative pinfall of 10,513, Vanderbilt remained in first place in the team standings.
“[Day 2] was a really solid day,” Williamson said. “We had contributions from a lot of people. It was good to see everyone engaged for the entire day.”
Henderson and Abigania’s individual efforts earned them spots on the all-tournament team. Henderson’s 222.6 game average earned her a third-place individual finish, while Abigania’s 218.6 average secured sixth.
Day 3
Looking to close out the fall season with a tournament win, Vanderbilt swept second-ranked Nebraska in a best-of-seven Baker series to punch its ticket to the championship match. After a brief contest against Prairie View A&M that did not have playoff implications, Williamson’s squad faced No. 6 Arkansas State in the final. Despite their continued success throughout the tournament, the Commodores were unable to beat the Red Wolves, who boasted scores of 212, 199, 236 and 256 to sweep Vanderbilt and claim the title.
“We played well enough all weekend to win a championship, but we just didn’t play well enough in [the match against Arkansas State],” Williamson said. “Every event this fall got better and had contributions from a lot of different people each time. We need to rest up and put in some work because our spring semester will come very quickly.”
Vanderbilt Bowling will kick off its spring season on Jan. 16, 2026, when it travels to New Castle, Delaware, to compete at Sacred Heart’s Northeast Classic.
