Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst women's bowling make the trip north to Rochester, N.Y. this weekend in hopes of making it back-to-back conference title as they compete in the East Coast Conference Championships. The Lakers will begin their quest to defend their title on Thursday, March 21st, with a champion being down on Sunday.
A Look Back
In their last competition, the Lakers in the Northeast Roundup, hosted by Wilmington (De.) on March 16th and 17th. Mercyhurst did well on day one with a trio of wins to help them take fourth place heading into day two. The team had a pair of bowlers who showed out on day one in Samantha Strebel and Delaney Rossette with Strebel ending day one as the fifth-best individual in the tournament. On day two, the team walked away with two wins, helping them to a sixth-place finish.
Back to Back
As mentioned before, Mercyhurst ended up winning the conference title a season ago, giving the program their first ECC championship. The Lakers dominated in their time in the tournament with a clean slate on Saturday, helping them grab the momentum they needed to secure the 5-0 win over Molloy in the championship matchup where Mercyhurst ended up bowling over 200 in four of their five games. They now look to repeat, hoping for similar success.
Laker Leaders
In baker games, Samantha Strbel led the way for the Lakers with the highest average pins per frame of 19.98 while her 83.8 overall fill percentage paced the team. She finished with the second-best first ball in baker games at 9.02 with only Ahmielle Roberts' 9.10 coming in better. Roberts also has the best strike percentage in baker games, making her someone who the team relied on down the stretch. Strebel once again led the win in team play in average pins per frame with a mark of 19.61 while her 82.5 overall fill percentage came best as well. Roberts' work in baker games with her first ball followed her to team play with her mark of 8.94 being the best with Nicole Lemponen's 8.92 coming in right behind while Strebel's 8.88 was good enough for third. Lemponen made her presence felt in team play with her 46.1 strike percentage leading the team with Strebel's 45.3 to follow while Delaney Rossette's 44.3 came in third.
Next Event
The Lakers will look to hear their name called in the NCAA Selection show after their time in the ECC Championships, vying for a second-straight appearance in the national tournament. The selection show will be held on March 27th via web stream on NCAA.com.
