The #19 Valpo bowling team claimed its second tournament title of the season Sunday, winning all of its matches, including a 4-2 win over #23 Central Missouri in the championship match, to secure the Viking Classic crown in Bettendorf, Iowa.
 
How It Happened

• With an odd number of teams in the tournament field, Valpo opened Sunday's action — contested in the five-game baker format — with a bye. The Beacons posted a 919 match score, highlighted by a 204 in game one and a 213 in game three.
• The Beacons' first competition of the day saw them come away with a 965-859 victory over Aurora. Valpo tossed high games of 203 in game two and game five of that matchup.
• Valpo's top match score of the day came in the third match slot, when it emerged with a 1032-654 win over Edgewood. The Beacons posted scores of 210 or better in three of the five games, including their high game of the day with a 258 in game three.
• Valpo closed five-game baker action against host Augustana and used a 257 in game three to roll to a 953-865 win.
• The Beacons closed the nine qualifying matches with a pinfall of 8,759 pins, over four hundred pins better than any of the field's other eight teams.
• Central Missouri came in second in the qualifying standings, setting up a championship best-of-seven baker matchup — the first time the two programs have met with a title on the line.
• Valpo jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the title match, including efforts of 225 in game one and 235 in game three. UCM came back with wins in games four and five to extend the match, but the Beacons closed the door on the tournament with a 228 in game six to clinch the title.
• Jen Patz (Naples, Fla./Naples) earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team as she ranked second in individual tournament average among bowlers who started all five of Saturday's traditional team matches. It marks the first All-Tournament accolade of the senior's career.

 
Inside the Tournament Title

• Valpo won its seventh tournament title in program history Sunday.
• The championship was the second of the season for the program, as the Beacons previously won McKendree's Bearcat Invitational.
• This is the second time in program history Valpo has won two tournament titles in the same season, joining the 2011-12 team which eventually went to the NCAA Tournament.

 
Next Up
Valpo (50-35) will now take time to prepare for the Conference USA Championship, being contested March 18-22 at Colonial Lanes in Harahan, La.