Women’s Bowling Goes 1-2 in Season Opener
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's bowling team started its 2021 schedule on Saturday, competing in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Round Robin #1 at AMF Playmor Lanes.
The Lady Lions (1-2, 1-2 AMCC) faced off in a trio of five-game baker matches against fellow South Group opponents Mount Aloysius College, New Jersey City University, and La Roche University, the day's host institution.
Penn State Altoona suffered an 836-683 loss to Mount Aloysius in the day's opening match. The Lady Lions bounced back in their next one, defeating La Roche 759-657, but they fell 859-762 to New Jersey City in the last match of the afternoon.
In match number one, the Lady Lions found themselves trailing Mount Aloysius after the first two games, which the Mounties won 192-137 and 164-124. Penn State Altoona edged Mount Aloysius 145-143 in the third game, but the Mounties took the last two games by scores of 156-134 and 181-143 to win by 153 pins.
Penn State Altoona responded with a victory in its second match of the day, putting a new mark in the team record books in the process. Facing La Roche, the Lady Lions trailed 131-115 after the first game, but they surged back to win the next three games by scores of 153-120, 147-119, and 205-121. The Redhawks won the fifth game 166-139, but Penn State Altoona won in pinfall by a margin of 102.
The Lady Lions' score of 205 during the fourth game against La Roche represents the sixth-best team score in a baker match in women's bowling program history.
Penn State Altoona finished its day versus New Jersey City, which won the pinfall battle in the first four games by scores of 184-120, 199-158, 151-149, and 186-154. The Lady Lions outperformed the Gothic Knights 181-139 in the fifth game, but New Jersey City prevailed in the match by 97 pins.
Breanna Yarnall (Bedford, PA/Bedford) led Penn State Altoona in baker frame average on the day, finishing with a mark of 16.13. Allyson Givler (Lancaster, PA/Hempfield) posted a 15.83 average per frame, and Chloe Mazza (Burlington, NJ/Burlington Township) recorded a 14.38 baker average. The Lady Lions' five was rounded out by Alyssa Bender (Altoona, PA/Altoona) and Kaitlyn Estright (Norristown, PA/Archbishop Carroll), who compiled respective baker averages of 13.72 and 13.00.
Mount Aloysius finished the day as the leader in total pinfall, putting down 2,556 pins. New Jersey City was second with 2,435 pins, Penn State Altoona came in third by dropping 2,204 pins, and La Roche rounded out the South Group with 2,015 pins.
Next up, Penn State Altoona will host the second and final AMCC Round Robin on Saturday, March 6 at the F.A. Gerhart Lanes inside the Bavarian Aid Society. The Lady Lions will welcome the South Group to town for the last conference event of the regular season, competing in traditional team format matches which are slated to begin at 2:00 p.m.
After the conclusion of the March 6 matches, the top two teams from the North Group and South Group will earn a berth into the AMCC postseason, facing off in the conference final four on Saturday, March 13.
