The #18 Valpo bowling team shattered the program record for scoring average in a best-of-seven baker match, which included a 299 game, as part of a day which saw the Beacons register their second-best single-day average in program history to close out the Flyer Classic in Lockport, Ill.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo opened the day taking on #19 McKendree in the first of three bracket matches. A 215 in game one gave the Beacons a 1-0 lead before the Bearcats took game two. But it was all Valpo from there, claiming the final three games — including a 201 in game four — to close out a 4-1 victory.
• The victory advanced Valpo into a matchup with the defending national champions, #7 Youngstown State, and it was nearly a perfect start for the Beacons. Angela Webber (Harvest, Ala./Sparkman), Jen Patz (Naples, Fla./Naples), Peytin Brake (Kent City, Mich./Kent City), Alexis Wooley (Fort White, Fla./Fort White) and Payton Rowley (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) combined to roll 11 strikes in a row in the opening game before the 7-pin stayed standing on the final ball, closing with a 299 — the second-best baker game in program history.
• Valpo took game two as well with a 200 to go up 2-0 in the match, but while the Beacons posted scores of 205 and 222 in their next two games, YSU took both games to even the showdown, 2-2. Valpo prevailed with a 201 in game five to retake the lead, 3-2, but games six and seven went much like games three and four — the Beacons rolled a 217 and a 223 in the final two games, but were edged by the Penguins by two and three pins, respectively, as YSU earned the 4-3 win.
• The combination of hitting the 200 mark in all seven games and rolling a 299 in the opener resulted in the top best-of-seven baker average in program history, as the Beacons averaged 223.9 against the Penguins — over four pins per game better than the previous record of 219.8, set against Lewis in a 4-0 sweep in January 2019.
• The loss resulted in a rematch with McKendree for ninth place. After dropping game one, Valpo used a 243 in game two and a 245 in game three to take a 2-1 lead in the match. But the Beacons were pipped by three pins in game four to even the match and the Bearcats went on to win the next two games as well — despite a 211 from Valpo in game six which was again three pins shy of McKendree's effort — to hand the Beacons a 4-2 defeat.
• Despite the loss, Valpo averaged 205.3 in the six games against McKendree in the final match, which ranks among the top-20 best-of-seven baker averages in program history.
• The Beacons finished the day with a 207.7 average over their 18 matches, the program's second-best single-day average all-time — just three pins shy of besting last Sunday's 207.8 average.
• There have been only 16 days in program history Valpo has averaged 200 or better for a single day — three of those have come in Sunday's best-of-seven baker action in each of the Beacons' last three tournaments.

 
Next Up
Valpo (42-34) returns to action next weekend at Augustana's Viking Classic, a two-day event at TBK Family Entertainment Center in Bettendorf, Iowa which begins Saturday, Feb. 14.