VALLEY PARK, Mo. – The top-ranked and No. 1 seeded McKendree University women's bowling team opened defense of its Great Lakes Valley Conference title here Friday afternoon as the Bearcats posted a 2-0 victory over fourth-seeded and 21st-ranked Lewis University at Bowlero Lakeside.
 
With the victory, the top-seeded Bearcats advance to a winner's bracket semifinal match on Saturday, March 26 at 1:30 p.m. against 12th-ranked and No. 2 seeded Maryville University. The winner of the that match will advance to Sunday's championship match, which is also scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
 
In Friday's match against Lewis, the Bearcats opened with a 1,069-878 win in the traditional game. In the traditional game, sophomore Isabel Allen (Tamworth, England/Polesworth High) tossed a 252 to lead the Bearcats, while senior two-time GLVC Player of the Year Hope Gramly (Prosper, Texas/Prosper) added a 243 in the win over the Flyers.

"We got off a to a really, really great start and were in position to do great things, but then for a minute or two we got a little lackadaisical. We know that whether we win conference or not, we're going to go to the NCAA Championships, so this was a perfect learning opportunity to not take our foot off the pedal regardless of what's happening," McKendree women's bowling head coach Shannon O'Keefe said. "Our backs were against the wall, Lewis definitely gave us a fight today, but we were able to refocus, stick together and push ourselves." 

After winning the traditional game of the mega-match, the two teams would play a five-game total pinfall Baker format set as the Bearcats would rally from down 100 pins after the third of five games to post a 1,016-973 win earn the match win and advance to Saturday's winner's bracket semifinal. In the Baker games, Gramly led the way with a 257, while junior Rebecca Hagerman (Loves Park, Ill./Harlem) was next with a 228.

In the fifth and final Baker game, the Bearcats switched to a different ball and that switch paid off as after opening the frame with a spare, the Bearcats reeled off eight straight strikes to post the come-from-behind win.

"Bryan (O'Keefe) made a great decision on the ball changes in the final game and the girls trusted that switch and executed great," O'Keefe added about the ball change in the final Baker game. "100 percent the ball change made the biggest difference. That lane (No. 6) hooked more early on, so using stronger bowling balls, the ball loses its energy, which is what happened to Britaney (Myers) in the first frame as she five-sevened on a great ball, which means her ball didn't have enough energy to go through the pins, so as soon as that happened, we knew going to cleaner bowling balls that would store more energy was the correct decision."
 
Here are the results from the first day of the 2022 GLVC Women's Bowling Championships.