LOCKPORT, Ill. - No.1-ranked McKendree University women's bowling defeated Newman University in the final match at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships this past weekend to claim its third consecutive conference title. The GLVC features seven women's bowling teams who competed in the three-day tournament at the Strike 'N Spare II in Lockport, Ill.  

The double-elimination tournament began on Friday as each match was comprised of a best-of-three format including a five-person team match, a Baker total pinfall match, and a Baker best-of-seven match to serve as the tiebreaker. McKendree's NCAA RPI ranking sealed the No.1 seed for the Bearcats, matching them up with No.4-seeded Central Missouri in their first match of the weekend.  

The Bearcats took the win against Central Missouri 2-0 with a 1,079-980 score in the team match and 1,100-957 score in the Baker match. McKendree was led in the traditional match by fifth-year senior Angelique Dalesandro, senior Maranda Pattison, and graduate student Hope Gramly. In the same afternoon session, Newman upset No.2 Maryville to advance to the semifinal match against McKendree. 

McKendree faced Newman on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Jets 2-0 by scores of 1,098-902 and 921-830. Senior Rebecca Hagerman topped the traditional scoring, bowling a 254 to help the Bearcats to a 219.6-pin average.  

Newman defeated Maryville once again in the first session of Sunday morning to earn a bid to the championship match against McKendree. The Bearcats posted a dominating 1,114-196 win in traditional play and a 1,103-891 win in Baker play. Hagerman led McKendree again with a score of 288 in the traditional games as the Bearcats collected a 222.8 average in traditional and a 220.5 average in the Baker portion.  

With the sweep, the Bearcats became the 2022-23 GLVC Champions, earning an automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Women's Collegiate Bowling Championships which begin with Regionals on April 7-8. McKendree will look for its second straight national title this year.