LOCKPORT, Ill. — The No. 2-ranked Vanderbilt bowling team ended its weekend at the Storm Flyer Classic with a second-place finish and two all-tournament team selections.
“Today was a tough championship Sunday,” head coach John Williamson said. “We had two really good rounds to start. We came from behind to beat a really good Sacred Heart team in game 7, and we jumped out to a big lead on Sam Houston and were able to weather the storm and win in game 7. I thought we had opportunities against Jacksonville State but ultimately came up short. We competed very hard all weekend, and this weekend was a steady improvement from the last event. We look forward the Nebraska event in two weeks as another opportunity to improve and compete.”
After earning the No. 3 seed on Saturday, the Commodores faced off with fourth-seeded Sacred Heart in the first round of bracket play. Vandy emerged victorious from a back-and-forth battle, clinching the match with a 248-200 win in game 7.
Next, Vanderbilt defeated No. 2 seed Sam Houston State in another seven-game thriller. After taking a 3-0 lead with scores of 234, 225 and 275, the Dores dropped a 245-199 decision to the Bearcats in game 4. Sam Houston State won the next two consecutive games to force a seventh. Vandy held off the Bearcats’ comeback attempt, winning the seventh game, 202-171, to earn a spot in the championship match.
In the championship match, the Commodores fell, 4-1 to top-seeded Jacksonville State.
Vanderbilt has now earned runner-up finishes at back-to-back tournaments and has placed top 5 in every event this season.
Two Commodores, Avery Domaguin and Saphyre Nofuente earned all-tournament first-team nods. On Saturday, Domaguin tied for the top spot on the individual leaderboard with scores of 225, 256, 214, 255 and 215 for a 233 game average. Domaguin and Arkansas State’s Kaitlyn Ruszczak shared the tournament MVP title. Nofuente earned a top 5 finish, posting scores of 237, 256, 159, 226 and 224, to make her second consecutive all-tournament team.
Vanderbilt will have a weekend off before traveling to Lincoln, Nebraska, for the Big Red Invitational on Feb. 20-22.
Fans can follow Vanderbilt bowling on Facebook, Instagram and X at @VandyBowling.
