The Sacred Heart University women’s bowling team opened their season on Oct. 12-13, where they placed second at the Bud Whitman Memorial, hosted by Chestnut Hill College.
The Pioneer’s went 7-2 at the tournament, securing a second place finish after a narrow 1237-1217 defeat to Fairleigh Dickinson University.
The Sacred Heart women’s bowling team ahead of the 2023-2024
NEC championship match.
Instagram, @sacredheartbowling
“The performance at the first tournament was promising,” said junior Megan Prettyman. “We had some lows, but that’s expected at the first tournament with a slightly different group of girls. It was a promising showing.”
The Pioneers were led by junior transfer Hope Bunk, with a 218.40 average across five traditional matches. Graduate student Paige Donovan followed with a 215.60 average, while Prettyman posted 192.60, both over the same five matches.
The Bud Whitman Memorial tournament marked the Pioneer’s first bowl as an independent team, as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) does not sponsor bowling. The university switched to the MAAC after leaving the Northeast Conference (NEC) last year.
“Our goal while in the NEC was to win matches, our goal now as an independent is to win matches to hopefully make postseason as an at large, without the opportunity to win an automatic qualifier,” said Prettyman.
Despite the challenges of competing as an independent team for the first time, the Pioneers remain focused on consistent performance and execution.
“Preparation this season was no different than any other year,” said sophomore Karleigh LeMond. “As a team, we focused on incorporating new teammates into our mix to see how their talents add to the team. Individually, we each had our own goals and tasks to work on before the season started.”
LeMond is following up on a standout first year, where she made both All-NEC First Team and All-Rookie Team.
“I do not feel any extra individual pressure coming into this season from my successful season last year,” said LeMond. “I believe my personal success comes from having a strong mental game and confidence in myself. I am more excited than anything for this season to see how far I can go and how successful I can be.”
Before the women’s independent debut at the Bud Whitman Memorial, they were ranked 18th in the NTCA Preseason Poll. This is one spot behind where they were ranked last year, being one of only five ranked independent teams.
“I can’t say there’s more or less pressure. Perhaps just different pressure,” said Prettyman. “No pressure to win a conference, but there’s still pressure to up our win-loss record for ranking.”
Previous seasons in the NEC, the women won six championships since 2010 and finished in the top two for eight consecutive years. This season as an independent team, they are focused on building on their success and on performing well to qualify for postseason play.
“We are trying to boost our ranking as an independent team so we can get an at large since we aren’t in a conference,” said LeMond. “We do not have the NEC championship as an automatic qualifier for the NCAA postseason tournaments. We really must focus on making every match count, especially the ones against high-ranking teams.”
The team competes next on Nov. 9-10 at the Bowl for the Cure tournament in East Haven, Conn., hosted by Sacred Heart University.
