NEW CASTLE, Del. — All five of Vanderbilt bowling’s Day 2 and 3 starters were named to the Northeast Classic all-tournament team on Sunday as the Commodores came in second place at their first event of 2026.
“It was a great weekend overall, picking up where we left off in the fall,” head coach John Williamson said. “Each tournament has been better than the one before, which is good to see after such a long break. Best-of-seven matches are fun, and when you get teams playing at a high level it can come down to who made the least numnber of mistakes. We made some errors today that we didn’t make all weekend that ended up costing us, but we played really well all weekend. We have a short week before we go back again. Hopefully we can get some time to regroup and go back with a smaller more elite field. It will be a fun test and I’m sure we’ll be ready for it.”
Second-ranked Vanderbilt earned the No. 2 seed heading into Sunday’s championship bracket. No. 1 Jacksonville Sate claimed the top seed and would eventually go on to win the tournament title.
The Commodores fell, 4-1, to the Gamecocks in round 1, sending Vandy to face Wichita State to determine the final matchup. After tying the opening game, the Dores and Shockers traded wins until Vanderbilt fired off scores of 259, 199 and 268 to win the match.
In the championship match, Vandy dropped a 4-1 decision to Jacksonville State, ending the weekend with an 11-2 tournament record and a second-place team finish.
For their individual performances on Saturday, Katelyn Abigania and Dannielle Henderson were named to the Northeast Classic all-tournament first team. Saphyre Nofuente, Victoria Varano and Alyssa Ballard, who also registered top 10 placements, earned second-team honors.
Vandy’s spring road swing continues when the Dores head to Arlington, Texas, for the Prairie View A&M Invitational Friday through Sunday.
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