The Upper Iowa women's bowling team was put to the test this weekend as they took part in the Big Red Invitational. The event, hosted by University of Nebraska-Lincoln, took place at Hollywood Bowl in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Ten teams from across the Midwest participated in the event, highlighted by seven teams from the NTCA top-25 overall poll. The tournament's format consisted of five team Baker matches on Friday, five traditional team matches on Saturday, and concluded with bracket play featuring best out of seven team Baker matches on Sunday.
The Peacocks finished in 10th place with a record of 2-10 for the weekend. They knocked over 4,699 pins in the team Baker matches, 4,665 pins in the traditional matches, and 2,041 pins during bracket play for a tournament total of 11,405 pins.
On Friday, UIU opened play losing their first three matches to nationally ranked opposition in Nebraska (#3), Lincoln Memorial University (#21), and the University of Central Missouri (#17). After a loss to Valparaiso, the Peacocks salvaged the day by defeating #7 Youngstown State University by a narrow margin of 936-929.
On Saturday, the field once again got the better of UIU as they went 1-4 on the day with all four losses coming against teams inside the top-20 in the nation. Individually, the Peacocks were led by
Amber Wagner, who finished with a total of 987 pins in five games. She was closely followed by
Emma Hawley with a total of 975 pins in five games, and
Aubrey Kiddle, who knocked over 949 pins in five games.
On Sunday, UIU were matched up against the top-seeded Cornhuskers, who won the match 4-0 on their way to taking the championship. As a result, the Peacocks found themselves in a rematch vs. Quincy University, but the Hawks avenged their previous loss this weekend by taking the match 4-3.
"This weekend was by far one of our toughest tournaments on the schedule with all the ranked teams we played," said Head Coach
Nichole DePaul. "We played well in many of our matches but did not capitalize on important shots. We will take this upcoming week to regroup and look ahead to our next tournament."
Up next, Upper Iowa will compete in some capacity next weekend at the USBC Sectionals. The event is set to begin on March 11 across four different locations.
