Valpo Bowlers Earn Three Wins Saturday
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Valpo Bowlers Earn Three Wins Saturday
Ashiey Busiel set Valpo's single-season record on Saturday. (Jeff Lange)
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Fifth-year senior Ashley Busiel (Elk Grove Village, Ill./James B. Conant [Harper College]) surpassed the Crusader record for single-season average as #15 Valparaiso earned three victories on Saturday at the Music City Classic in Smyrna, Tenn.

Valpo went 3-2 on Saturday and moved up a pair of spots in the standings, entering Sunday 14th out of the 29 competing teams with a total pinfall of 9,968 pins.  Maryland Eastern Shore leads the team standings with 11,092 pins.

Meanwhile, Busiel surpassed the Crusaders’ single-season average record by finishing the season strong.  The fifth-year senior entered Saturday with a 199.2 average, nine-tenths of a pin shy of Natalie Cortese’s mark set in 2010-2011.  But Busiel posted the field’s tenth-best average on Saturday, rolling a 211.5 average over six games to improve her season average to 200.6 and set a new Valpo standard.

The Crusaders got off to a rough start on Saturday, falling in a tight match to #RV North Carolina A&T 920-904 despite a game of 201 from Busiel and a 202 by freshman Tedra Tado (Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove).  Valpo then fell 1108-932 to #7 Fairleigh Dickinson, with senior Katie Shumaker (Trafford, Pa./Penn-Trafford [Maryland Eastern Shore]) and Tedo breaking 200 by posting respective games of 203 and 201.

The Crusaders turned things around in their third match with a 944-724 victory over Hampton, led by a 247 by Busiel and a 204 from Shumaker.  No Valpo bowler would break 200 in its fourth match, but four of the five Crusaders surpassed 180 in a 933-884 win over #RV Monmouth.

Valpo had a bye in the day’s fifth match slot and rolled a team score of 965, with Busiel (228) and Shumaker (211) pacing the squad.  The Crusaders closed out Saturday’s traditional action with their biggest game of the day, downing #19 Bethune-Cookman 1005-807 led by their trio of seniors, as Shumaker (224), Busiel (210) and Morgan Sharp (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) (202) all broke 200 in the finale.

Valparaiso (60-64) closes out its 2012-2013 campaign on Sunday in the final day of the Music City Classic.