Women's Bowling | 3/7/2025 11:41:00 PM
ALLEN PARK, Mich. – The North Carolina A&T bowling program has made it a habit to qualify individuals for the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Singles Championship (ISC) finals dating back to 2015.
Friday was no different. The Aggies qualified two bowlers at the USBC individual sectionals at Thunderbowl Lanes. Senior Maya Avilez had the highest qualifying score, and freshman Victory White had the third highest. Avilez and White will compete for individual national championships in Las Vegas, April 14-19.
Four other bowlers qualified, including Piper Chalmers and Leah Varela from Mount Saint Mary's, Arkansas State's Karli VanDuinen, and Youngstown State's Amanda Granata.
Avilez posted a 1,399 total pinfall over six games to finish ahead of Chalmers' 1,313. White finished behind Chalmers with a total pinfall of 1,298. One hundred and seventy-one bowlers tried to qualify from the Allen Park, Mich., region, including eight other Aggies, including junior Julianna Sams.
Sams finished outside the top six in ninth place with a total pinfall of 1,257. Reigning MEAC Bowler of the Week, senior Grace Stull had a total pinfall of 1,237 to place 14th. Stull is coming off her first career all-tournament performance at last week's Vernell Stallings Invitational at Greensboro's AMF All Star Lanes.
Meanwhile, senior Chloe Newberry gave the Aggies five bowlers in the top 30 by placing 30th with a total pinfall of 1,205.
The other A&T bowlers who participated included senior Laura Garcia (33rd, 1,197), freshman Tiana Cruz (36th, 1,189), sophomore Savannah Burgin (44th, 1,165), and freshman Jasmine Hall (59th, 1,139).
Avilez's best game of the day came in Game 4 when she bowled a 266, one pin shy of the tournament high for Saturday, Granata's 267. Sams had the day's second-best score for an A&T Aggie when she posted a 264 in Game 3. Avilez bowled a 256 total pinfall in Game 4.
A&T will combine their efforts for the remainder of the weekend as the Aggies try to qualify for the Intercollegiate Team Championship (ITC) finals. The Aggies have an ITC national championship, which they secured in 2015.
