Women's Bowling | 3/6/2026 9:20:00 PM
SMYRNA, Tenn. – As postseason approaches with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Bowling Championship Tournament two weeks away and the NCAA tournament four weeks in the future, North Carolina A&T, the No. 12 team in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Top 25 poll looked postseason ready during the first day of the Music City Classic hosted by Vanderbilt University at the Smyrna Bowling Center.
The Aggies totaled 5,118 pins on Friday, averaging 204.7 over 25 Baker format games played to place sixth after Day 1. The top-ranked team in the nation, Jacksonville State, is in first place after a one-day total pinfall of 5,565 and an average of 222.6.
Fourteenth-ranked Sam Houston State University (5,338, 213.5), second-ranked Vanderbilt (5,254, 210.2), the MEAC's UAB Blazers (5,178, 207.1), and third-ranked Arkansas State (5,154, 206.2) round out the top five heading into traditional team match play on Saturday morning.
A&T went 4-1 on Friday, starting with a 1,028-942 win over the 17th-ranked Tulane Green Wave. The lineup of freshman Charisse Graham, freshman Alexia Escamilla, junior Payton Hartgrove, junior Savanah Burgin, and sophomore anchor Victorya White got off to a scorching start against the Green Wave.
Tulane matched it. A&T slightly out-pinned the Green Wave 441-422 going into the third game of action. The Aggies got some separation from the Green Wave, out-pinning them 192-165. A&T pulled away a little further by out-pinning Tulane by 10 in Game 4 before making things decisive with a 198-168 advantage in Game 5. Against the Lewis University Flyers, Burgin went to the anchor position while White moved to the No. 4 spot.
The results were almost the same. The Aggies defeated the Flyers 1,017-910, and again started fast. The Aggies had a 423-354 advantage after the first two games. Lewis took five pins off the Aggies' lead in the third game, but A&T out-pinned the Flyers by 12 pins in the fourth game and won Game 5, 224-193, to secure the impressive win.
Defending NCAA national champion and eighth-ranked Youngstown State served as the Aggies' next opponent. Graham and Escamilla remained at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, while White moved positions again, making an appearance at the No. 3 spot. Hartgrove went from No. 3 to No. 4, and Burgin remained the anchor. After out-pinning the Penguins 223-202, the Penguins took the lead thanks to out-pinning the Aggies by 45 in Game 2.
Over the next two games, the Penguins increased their advantage by out-pinning A&T 427-334. The Aggies won Game 5, 226-191, but it was not enough as Youngstown handed the Aggies their first loss of the day, 1,024-942. A&T bounced back against the University of Indianapolis, defeating the Greyhounds 1,018-859. Sophomore Jasmine Hall stepped in at the No. 3 spot for White and helped the Aggies put together an impressive 268 total pinfall in Game 4.
A&T closed out the day in style, beating the SHSU Bearkats in a 1,113-1,065 nail-biter. The Aggies returned to the lanes with the same lineup as their matchup against the Greyhounds and did work. They posted a 226 total pinfall to outlast the Bearkats by two pins in Game 1 before the Bearkats took a slight advantage after Game 2 by out-pinning the Aggies by 10. The Aggies reclaimed control by 12 by beating SHSU 226-206 in the third game. The Aggies grew their lead to 16 after Game 4 before putting an exclamation point on their win by out-pinning the Bearkats 247-215.
The Aggies opened traditional play on Saturday against Jacksonville State before facing ninth-ranked Wright State, Carthage College, 15th-ranked Newman University, and Western Illinois.
