SINKING SPRING, Pa. – The Saint Anselm College women's bowling team saw its season come to an end over the weekend at the East Coast Conference (ECC) Championship. Saint Anselm made it to the fourth round of elimination play after an eighth place finish in qualifying matches, but was defeated by Roberts Wesleyan in a close baker best-of-seven matchup, 4-3. The Hawks concluded their third season as a program with an overall record of 34-63, which was more wins than their previous two seasons combined.
In Friday's qualifying matches, Saint Anselm earned one win and four losses to finish in eighth place out of nine schools. The Hawks fell to Roberts Wesleyan and Kutztown, and then took down St. Thomas Aquinas before suffering two more losses to D'Youville and Molloy.
Saint Anselm earned the No. 8 seed and faced No. 9 seed St. Thomas Aquinas once again in the first round of the double-elimination tournament on Friday. The Hawks swept the Spartans, 4-0, in a baker best-of-seven match to move on to the second round on Saturday.
There, they fell to top-ranked Kutztown, 4-0. Saint Anselm then moved down to the loser's bracket, where they received a bye in the third round before facing No. 5 seed Roberts Wesleyan in the fourth round. The Redhawks ultimately took that one by a final score of 4-3, ending the season for the Hawks.
Roberts Wesleyan eventually advanced to the ECC Championship Mega Match on Sunday, where they were defeated by Kutztown, 2-1. The Golden Bears earned their first ECC Women's Bowling Championship title in program history and secured the conference's automatic bid into the upcoming NCAA Championship.
"We found ourselves in an undesirable spot as the eighth seed needing to bowl the initial best-of-seven baker round on Friday," said third-year head coach
Tim Frye '11. "Our team displayed good mental toughness to bowl a full standard tournament day, followed by a playoff round on top of that. The team had an excellent mindset, resulting in our win against St. Thomas Aquinas.
"In the first match on Saturday against Kutztown, we struggled despite bowling well against them the day before. The team did not get down on themselves and took the break in between rounds to regroup, refuel, and refocus," Frye continued. "We had a great back-and-forth match with Roberts Wesleyan and faced 1-0 and 3-2 deficits, but won game six by a pin to force game seven. Having game seven come down to the 10th frame on both sides was about as exciting as it gets.
"Unfortunately, we came up short. As the moment settled, I could see the emotion of our team start to come out as many were holding back tears. Seeing their hard work, bonding, learning, and perseverance as a team came to a stop in that moment as our season had concluded."
At the ECC Championship, sophomore
Callie Goulet (Bellingham, Mass.) and freshman
Katy McNemar (Chambersburg, Pa.) of Saint Anselm were named to the All-ECC Third Team for their performances this season. They became the first pair of teammates in program history to earn All-Conference recognition in the same year.
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