Women's Bowling | 10/24/2025 5:37:00 AM
GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T bowling season is underway, and with that, one of the most successful varsity programs in the history of North Carolina A&T Athletics returns to attempt to claim the one thing that has eluded the historic program – an NCAA national championship.
In 2015, the Aggies captured the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Team Championship. They have nine Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championships, with the latest coming in 2025. The Aggies have also won the last five MEAC regular-season championships. Not much has changed going into the 2025-26 season for the Aggies.
They have a demanding schedule starting this weekend with the Destination Orlando tournament hosted by Sacred Heart at AMF Sky Lanes in Orlando, Fla. Six-time MEAC Coach of the Year Kim Terrell-Kearney returns for her 10th season in Aggieland, where she has won five of those coach of the year honors.
The Aggies also open the season with the preseason MEAC Bowler of the Year again. This time, it is last season's MEAC Rookie of the Year in sophomore Victorya White. The Aggies have now had the preseason bowler of the year six straight seasons. And once again, the Aggies are considered a top 10 team nationally, earning a preseason No. 7 ranking from the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA).
However, the most notable difference from previous years to this season is that Terrell-Kearney brings in the youngest team of her successful tenure at A&T. The roster includes four freshmen, three sophomores, two juniors, and a senior. Junior Payton Hargrove is a transfer out of Alabama State. The biggest job for Terrell-Kearney thus far has been getting the new and young team to feel comfortable so that everyone is ready to play when the time comes.
"In terms of the freshmen, we have four, and each of them has been successful coming into our program," Terrell-Kearney said. "I think we're bringing in a lot of talent, so it's just a matter of us putting the right five on the floor and figuring out who has the best chemistry. Sara (Giraldo) and Gabriella (Rodriguez) both bring some international bowling experience for Columbia, so we're really excited to see what they can do."
Freshman Charisse Graham is a Youth Scratch Master's Tour U18 champion, and freshman Alexa Escamilla is a Kentucky Youth Bowling Tour U18 champion. Terrell-Kearney's goal with this team is to get them accustomed to what A&T bowling looks like, what practice looks like, and how competition will look, and how her style of coaching plays into all of that. It has allowed her to see which players step up as leaders.
"I typically don't assign a team captain," Terrell-Kearney said. "Generally, if players are leading by example or leading vocally, that person tends to stand out."
To understand the critical role of the newcomers, one must understand what the Aggies lost from last season's team that took eventual national champion Youngstown State to the brink of defeat in the NCAA tournament before losing a hard-fought Mega Match, 2-1.
Those losses include 2024-25 MEAC Bowler of the Year and third-team All-American Maya Avilez. It also includes two-time MEAC Bowler of the Year Melanie Katen. The Aggies also graduated three-time first-team All-MEAC selection Chloe Newberry and All-MEAC and honorable mention All-American Laura Garcia. Last season's leadoff bowler, Grace Stull, is also gone.
Even though the returners have not been in leadership roles, Terrell-Kearney has definitely seen some players step up, including senior Juliana Sams. As a senior, Sams needs to step up into a leadership role. She will be one of the people the other girls look to as they get accustomed to Division I collegiate bowling.
In addition to Sams, the Aggies also return sophomores Jasmine Hill and Tiana Cruz. Hill is a preseason All-MEAC selection, and Cruz earned valuable time on the lanes a year ago. The Aggies also bring back Savannah Burgin for her third season in the program.
"When it comes to Jasmine and Tiana, we have high expectations for both of them from last year," Terrell-Kearney said. "They both played a pretty significant part in our success at different times during the season, so we know they can get it done when we need them to."
Meanwhile, there is White. In addition to her MEAC accolades as a freshman, White also secured third-team All-American and NTCA All-Rookie team recognition. She also qualified for the USBC's Intercollegiate Singles Championships.
"Victorya is pretty well known," said Terrell-Kearney. "She's the best recruit we've ever gotten in this program. Over the summer and in the few months since, she's continued to get better. So, she's fired up, ready to go and ready to show folks that we can win a national championship here, and that she can continue to be an All-American."
With so many new players, people generally say it's a rebuilding year, but that doesn't work for A&T bowling, which enters the season as the favorites to win the MEAC.
"I think that our expectations are the same, so winning the MEAC is definitely in our grasp," Terrell-Kearney said. Terrell-Kearney also believes that the team does not need more experienced players to win an NCAA national championship.
"There's nothing that says it can't happen this year," she added.
After the Destination Orlando tournament, the competition heats up with the always-competitive Kat Klash, hosted by Sam Houston State University in Houston, Texas, October 31-November 2. The Colonial Classic, hosted by Tulane University, November 21-23, also attracts numerous top-15 teams. Sandwiched in between those two tournaments is all-important MEAC Meet #1 hosted by Morgan State in Baltimore, Md., where the Aggies will face all their MEAC foes.
The spring semester will start with the Aggies traveling to New Castle, Del., on January 26 to play in the NE Classic hosted by Sacred Heart, before another big-time tournament in Arlington, Texas, as part of the Prairie View A&M Invitational (January 23-25). After the Flyer Invite (February 6-8) in Illinois, the Aggies will face MEAC opponents again in the second MEAC Meet in Norfolk, Va., before the Aggies host the annual Vernell Stallings Invitational in Greensboro (February 27-March 1) before closing out the regular season at the prestigious Music City Classic hosted by Vanderbilt University, March 6-8.
Then the match toward championship glory begins with the USBC sectionals, the MEAC tournament, NCAA regionals, NCAA nationals, and the USBC National Championships. But first things first.
"I am excited about this weekend, nervous, but I think I always am the first week just because you just don't know," said Terrrell-Kearney. "My job is to make sure that I have the right chemistry, that I have the right five on the lanes at the right time. I'm not sure of that makeup just yet, but we'll figure it out."
