The #21 Valpo bowling team closed its fall semester competition on a high note Sunday in Fairview Heights, Ill., winning a pair of matches in bracket play to earn the sixth tournament title in program history as the Beacons won the Bearcat Invitational. Angela Webber (Harvest, Ala./Sparkman) was named to the All-Tournament Team after posting a 205.4 average in the traditional team matches on Saturday, fourth-best in the tournament field.
 
How It Happened

• The second seed coming out of the first two days of competition, the Beacons were paired with top seed #11 Sacred Heart in the day's opening match, with the winner earning a bye directly into the championship match.
• It was a slow start for Valpo, as Sacred Heart claimed the match's first two games in the best-of-seven baker match. The Beacons got on the board in game three and then used a 204 in game four to tie the match.
• Valpo poured it on from there, rolling a 233 in game five to move within one game of the match win and then closing the match with 11 strikes in a row to post a 278 in game six to finish out the 4-2 win.
• The Beacons sat and awaited their championship opponent, which would come out of a matchup between Sacred Heart and #10 Maryville. Maryville wasted little time, winning that match in four straight games to set up a Valpo-Maryville tournament championship for the second time in as many tournaments — it was the Saints who rallied from behind to defeat the Beacons in seven games in the championship match at Valpo's Windy City Halloween Classic Nov. 2.
• The two teams traded blows to start the match, with Valpo opening on top with a 220 in game one and Maryville answering with a 219 in game two as the squads split the first two games.
• Despite rolling a 213 in game three, the Beacons came up one pin shy, as the Saints' 214 gave them a 2-1 lead in the match. But Valpo kept at it, rallying from behind for a 209-202 win in game four and a 200-192 win in game five to move to the brink of the title. Maryville claimed game six to make it a winner-take-all game seven for the second straight tournament.
• Valpo marked in each of its first seven frames of the clincher, including a strike, nine-spare, strike, strike start while Maryville had a few open frames which allowed the Beacons to build their lead. Valpo led by 53 pins at the midway mark and cruised to a 180-159 victory to claim the tournament title.

 
Inside the Tournament

• The tournament title was the sixth in program history and the first since winning Upper Iowa's Peacock Classic in January 2022.
• It was the first victory for Valpo in a field which featured nationally-ranked teams since winning its own Crusader Classic in November 2011.
• Paired with the runner-up showing at the Windy City Halloween Classic, it is just the second time in program history Valpo has bowled for a tournament title in back-to-back events — the other instance occurred in the program's NCAA Tournament season in 2011-12, when the aforementioned Crusader Classic victory followed a win at Central Missouri's Greater Ozark Invitational.
• Valpo posted a 9-2 record this weekend over the three days of action, the program's best win/loss record in a tournament since going 12-1 at the aforementioned Peacock Classic in January 2022.

 
Webber's Honor

• Webber earned the first All-Tournament Team accolade of her career by virtue of her performance in Saturday's traditional team matches.
• The junior broke 200 in three of Saturday's five games and finished with a five-game total of 1027 to place fourth among the field's bowlers.
• Webber joins Payton Rowley (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville), who earned All-Tournament Team honors at the Windy City Halloween Classic, as All-Tournament recipients this year. It is the first time since the 2022-23 campaign that Valpo has had multiple bowlers earned All-Tournament recognition in the same season.

 
Next Up
Valpo (30-20) will return to competition next semester with four tournaments prior to the Conference USA Championship, starting with Maryville's Saints Invitational Jan. 30-Feb. 1.