Women's Bowling | 11/1/2026 8:09:00 PM
ORLANDO, Fla. – Another tournament, another top 5 finish for the ninth-ranked team in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Top 25 Poll, the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Aggies bowling team.
The Aggies placed fifth at the 2026 Destination Florida tournament hosted by Sacred Heart at the Boardwalk Bowl bowling alley on Sunday. The Aggies are a red-hot bowling team when it comes to winning games. The Aggies have won 17 of their last 19 matches, including a 3-0 sweep on the final day of the tournament on Sunday. One of those wins was an additional traditional team bowling match after the Aggies played five of them on Saturday.
A&T entered Baker format best-of-seven bracket play as the No. 5 seed after defeating 14
th-ranked Niagara in an early morning traditional team play contest. A&T battled Niagara, defeating the Purple Eagles 1,102-1,050. In A&T's one traditional match on Sunday, the Aggies started with freshman
Charisse Graham, sophomore
Alexa Escamilla, senior
Payton Hartgrove, senior
Savannah Burgin, and junior
Victorya White.
Graham led the Aggies, posting a 267 total pinfall, followed by White's 237 total pinfall performance. Escamilla and Burgin also contributed to the close win, with Escamilla bowling 203 and Burgin adding 201. Hartgrove nearly put all five bowlers over 200 pinfall, bowling a 194. That win gave the Aggies a bye going into the best-of-seven. Fourth-ranked Arkansas State defeated second-ranked Vanderbilt in seven games for the right to play A&T.
The Red Wolves took the opportunity to win Game 1, 228-223, before the Aggies recovered to win the next two games, out-pinning the Red Wolves 442-382. Arkansas State evened the series with a 269-254 win in Game 5 before the Aggies won the series 4-2 with a 225-178 victory in Game 6. The win set up a matchup with tournament host Sacred Heart, the 10
th-ranked team in the country. The top 10 matchup for fifth place turned into a thriller.
Game 1 went to A&T as the Aggies edged out the Pioneers 217-211. The Pioneers recovered to take Game 2 before the Aggies took a commanding 3-1 lead by out-pinning Sacred Heart 445-386 over the next two games. Unfortunately, Sacred Heart returned the favor, winning the next two games by out-pinning the Aggies 465-363 and forcing Game 7. The Aggies took charge early, winning 222-184 to claim the fifth-place spot.
Top-ranked Jacksonville State won the tournament by defeating fifth-ranked Nebraska in six games. The Gamecocks had a total pinfall of 14,316, averaging 220.2 in 65 games. Meanwhile, the Aggies finished the tournament with a 14,040 pinfall to average 209.6 in 67 games. A&T finished the tournament with an 11-2 record, improving to 31-8 for the season. Vanderbilt's Katelyn Abigania took individual medalist honors with a total pinfall of 1,461, averaging 243.50.
White had another top 5 finish for the Aggies, their second in three tournaments. White tied for fourth place with Jax State's Annalise Obryant. Both bowlers recorded a 1,364 total pinfall, averaging 227.33 in six games. Burgin finished in the top 10 with a 1,341 total pinfall over six games, averaging 223.50. Graham finished 24
th out of 154 bowlers totaling 1,250 pins for an average of 208.3.
The Aggies will play their final tournament of the fall semester in two weeks when they compete in the Kat Klash hosted by Sam Houston State University, Nov. 13-15 at Emerald Bowl in Houston, Texas.
