Strong showing in Vegas, standout freshman class have Saint Vincent women's bowling confident of title chances

There’s a popular ad campaign that says “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” The Saint Vincent women’s bowling team wants to turn that notion on its head.

For several years, coach Jeff Zidek has taken his team to the Collegiate Shoot-Out in Las Vegas. It is, Zidek said, one of only a handful of “Tier 1” college bowling tournaments in the country. Teams from all NCAA divisions compete.

The primary purpose is to expose his players to a higher caliber of competition as they chase an elusive Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference title. At this season’s event, 38 teams, including Ohio State, Purdue and Kansas State, competed, and this time, Saint Vincent came back with more than mere experience.

The Bearcats earned a third-place finish and national respect.

Saint Vincent was in 16th place after the first day of competition, and the top eight teams would make the cut to the semifinals. Zidek was happy with the result but admitted he was hoping for a bit more.

On Day 2, the Bearcats’ only expectation was to improve on Day 1. Did they ever.

Saint Vincent posted the best pin count of all 38 teams and jumped into the eighth and final semifinal spot.

“It was really crazy,” senior captain Beanie Strickland said. “I’ve been to Vegas — this is my third trip — and we had never made the cut before. So I was honestly really surprised, personally.

“To make it that far was really great. When we made it that far, everyone was excited. No one seemed nervous.”

The eight teams were divided into two pods of four for the semifinals, and Saint Vincent won its pod with the second-highest pin total (828) among the eight semifinalists. In the final, it finished third, a mere 39 pins from taking home the title.

“The best thing out there was when coaches and players from these other schools were coming up to us and congratulating us and saying, ‘Wow. We took notice of what you guys were doing,’ ” Zidek said. “These were some big-time programs, and we caught their eye out there, this little, small school from Latrobe.

“I told (my players) flat out that night: What you accomplished here against a whole lot of nationally ranked teams … you do not have any reason to be intimidated by any team you might face this year.”

That includes in the AMCC, where Saint Vincent routinely has been the top team during the regular season but can’t seem to get across the finish line in the conference tournament. It’s something the players are intent on changing this season.

“I’ve been talking about it all year,” Strickland said. “That’s the most important thing to me is to win that tournament, and a lot of the girls agree. We’ve never won that tournament before and … since this is my last year, it’s really important to me.”

The Bearcats got off to a good start in proving they can achieve that feat. In the first of two round-robin events featuring AMCC schools, which took place Nov. 16-17, SVC went 7-0, outscoring opponents by 375 pins.

The second AMCC round-robin event is taking place this weekend, Feb. 8-9. The AMCC championship will be March 21-23 at Pine Plaza Lanes in the North Hills.

Strickland has been backing up her championship talk with a steady performance, averaging 186.1. She recently was named MVP as Saint Vincent won the Bobcat Classic hosted by Pitt-Greensburg. It was the Bearcats’ fourth tournament win of the season.

“In the last two years, she’s never really had a bad tournament,” Zidek said. “She’s always between 175 and 195. … She never has those 160 days.”

Her “backup band” includes a strong freshman class, including Plum grad Mara Pilyih and Kaylie Kurland. Pilyih leads the team in several categories, including average at 190.0, and Kurland is tied for third in average at 184.2.

Another freshman, Brooke Street, ranks fifth on the team with a 174.4 average. They have helped Saint Vincent compile an overall team average of 181.4, up four pins from last season.

“I came in, and I wanted to do well after leaving high school because I had a good four years of high school,” Pilyih said. “But I didn’t expect to do as well as I’m doing.

“We (freshmen) are very strong. … It doesn’t really matter what freshman is in at what time. We’re all pretty capable of (performing).”

Last season, Skyy Nicholls (East Allegheny) was that freshman. She quickly evolved from spot duty in the Bearcats lineup to a mainstay. This season, Nicholls, averaging 184.2, regularly serves as the anchor bowler.

“Me and her, we switch four and five (positions) a lot,” Pilyih said. “But when we’re bowling Bakers, and she’s five, I have the confidence to go and set her up so that she can go and finish off the 10th frame. She’s a very strong bowler and has confidence in herself and what she can do.”

Sophomore Daphne Stuber ranks sixth on the team with a 173.6 average. So not only are the Bearcats putting up impressive numbers, they are doing it with a lineup that will remain largely intact for two more years.

Saint Vincent ended January ranked No. 16 in the United States Bowling Congress poll. In December, the Bearcats appeared in the International Bowling Media Association poll for the first time and landed at No. 6 in the preseason National Tenpin Coaches Association poll. (The next NTCA poll is due this month.)

National rankings, stats, even big finishes in prestigious tournaments are nice items to fill out a resume. Saint Vincent, however, is more interested in what is not on its resume: an AMCC championship.

Strickland serves as a tour guide for prospective SVC students, and, in that capacity, she had a chance to talk to many of the current players, “hyping up the team,” as she put it, in hopes of luring them to Unity Township. With the current group, she is more confident than ever of winning the conference.

“All of the accomplishments we have made so far have been good for us, and everyone seems to have more confidence in themselves when bowling,” she said. “I think they came in really caring about bowling. … The motivation is there.”