Bowling Excited to Begin Regional Weekend on Friday in Lansing

The Youngstown State bowling team's quest for a run in the NCAA Tournament begins on Friday as the Penguins will open regional play against Maryville. It is YSU's third straight appearance in the national tournament, and the Penguins have been placed in at the four-team pod at Royal Scot Golf & Bowl in Lansing, Mich. for the second straight season.

The Penguins will open play on Friday at 9 a.m. against the Saints, and, if Youngstown State wins, it would advance into the winners' bracket to compete against the winner of the Vanderbilt-Carthage match at 3 p.m. If YSU drops its morning match, it would play an elimination match against either the Commodores or Firebirds on Friday at 3 p.m. If the Penguins win at least once on Friday, they will bowl on Saturday. The winner of the Lansing Regional will advance to the Final Four next weekend in Las Vegas, Nev.

Live video for the Regional round will be streamed on the Olivet College Athletics YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/@OlivetCollegeAthletics/streams), and regular updates will be provided on YSU's social media channels.

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Bracket

Schedule

Friday, April 7

Match 1: Vanderbilt vs. Carthage (9 a.m.)
Match 2: Youngstown State vs. Maryville (9 a.m.)
Match 3: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2 (3 p.m.)
Match 4: Loser Match 1 vs. Loser Match 2 ( 3 p.m.)

Saturday, April 8

Match 5: Winner Match 4 vs. Loser Match 3 (9 a.m.)
Match 6: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 5 (3 p.m.)
Match 7 (if necessary): Rematch immediately following the conclusion of Match 6

Tournament Format

Just like at the Southland Bowling League Championship, matches at the NCAA Tournament will be contested using the mega-match format. Teams will bowl one standard five-person game for total pinfall, then five Baker games for total pinfall. If one team wins both the traditional and Baker rounds, they will advance to the next round. If the teams split the standard and Baker rounds, they will move on to a best-of-seven series of Baker games to determine the winner. Any "if-necessary" matches in the regional brackets will be best-of-seven Baker match play.

Scouting the Regional Field

Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt is the second overall seed in the tournament as an at-large selection out of the Southland Bowling League. The Commodores were the top seed in the Southland Tournament but went 1-2 two weeks ago at Rowlett Bowlarama in Texas. Vanderbilt won the Lansing Regional in 2021-22 to advance to the Final Four, and the Commodores finished third overall in the national tournament. Mabel Cummins was the Southland Bowler of the Year, and Victoria Varano was the conference's Newcomer of the Year.

Maryville: Maryville is making its inaugural trip to the NCAA Tournament this season as an at-large selection from the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Saints went 90-40 in the regular season and earned second-place finishes at the Valpo Bowling Classic and the Flyer Classic. The Saints placed third at their conference tournament. Anna Maxwell was named to the All-GLVC First Team, and first-year head coach Lauren Pate was named the GLVC Coach of the Year.

Carthage: Carthage is also making its tournament debut as the automatic qualifier out of the Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin. The Firebirds were the CCIW regular-season and tournament champions for the first time in school history. The third-year program is led by co-conference Coach of the Year Katelyn Zwiefelhofer. Caitlin Powers (first-team) and Cassie Hyland (second-team) both earned all-conference honors.

This Season Against Regional Teams

1-0 vs. Carthage

W: 1,009-895 in Baker at MOTIV Ladyjack Classic (Nov. 13, 2022)

2-4 vs. Maryville

L: 1,022-1,026 in traditional at MOTIV Ladyjack Classic (Nov. 12, 2022)
L: 1-4 in best-of-seven Baker at Northeast Classic (Jan. 22, 2023)
W: 4-3 in best-of-seven Baker at Northeast Classic (Jan. 22, 2023)
L: 1,001-1,103 in Baker at Mid-Winter Invitational (Feb. 17, 2023)
L: 2-4 in best-of-seven Baker at Mid-Winter Invitational (Feb. 19, 2023)
W: 4-3 in best-of-seven Baker at Music City Classic (March 19, 2023)

2-2 vs. Vanderbilt

L: 915-1,149 in Baker at MOTIV Ladyjack Classic (Nov. 11, 2022)
L: 933-938 in Baker at Prairie View A&M Invitational (Jan. 27, 2023)
W: 1,065-1,033 in traditional at Music City Classic (March 18, 2023)
W: 2-1 in mega match at Southland Championship (March 25, 2023)
- YSU won the Baker total pinfall and best-of-seven Baker points

YSU's Regional History

Youngstown State is making its third trip overall and its third consecutive appearance in the regional round. The Penguins made their debut in 2020-21 when the entire tournament was held in North Kansas City, Mo., due to the pandemic, and they were in the Lansing Regional in 2021-22.

The Penguins have won at least one point in seven of their eight matches all-time in the NCAA Tournament. In 2020-21, the Penguins swept through the Regional portion of the bracket with 2-0 wins over Louisiana Tech and Fairleigh Dickinson and a 2-1 victory against Sam Houston in the Regional Final. In the Final Four, YSU fell 2-0 to McKendree and 2-1 to Arkansas State. Last season in Lansing, the Penguins had a pair of 2-1 setbacks against Arkansas State and beat Alabama State 2-0.

In the 2020-21 tournament, Emma Wrenn was named to the All-Tournament Team and Sarah Florence was selected as the NCAA's Elite 90 Winner for having the highest GPA among the student-athletes at the Final Four. In 2021-22, Jade Cote averaged 216.7 per game in YSU's three traditional matches, and Megan Grams averaged 210.

2020-21:

W: 2-0 vs. Louisiana Tech
W: 2-0 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
W: 2-1 vs. Sam Houston
L: 0-2 vs. McKendree
L: 1-2 vs. Arkansas State

2021-22:

L: 1-2 vs. Arkansas State
W: 2-0 vs. Alabama State
L: 1-2 vs. Arkansas State

Scouting the Penguins

In the four full seasons with Doug Kuberski as its head coach, Youngstown State has developed into a perennial national contender. YSU is making its third straight appearance at the NCAA Regionals, and it has been ranked in the top 10 of the National Tenpin Coaches Association's poll for 16 of the past 17 votes. The Penguins advanced to the Final Four in 2020-21, and current student-athletes Megan Grams, Madyson Marx and Kirsten Moore are eager to lead the team back to the national finals in Las Vegas. In addition to that trio, four other YSU bowlers are back from last year's team that competed at Royal Scot Golf & Bowl in Lansing.

The Penguins posted their best regular season in school history, going 78-39 overall in nine tournaments. After a 2-2 mark at the Southland Bowling League Championship, YSU enters the national tournament with an 80-41 record for a .661 winning percentage against the fifth-toughest schedule in the country. That winning percentage is just ahead of the 2019-20 team's school-record mark of .653.

YSU finished eighth or better in all nine of its regular-season tournaments, and it began the campaign with back-to-back runner-up finishes at the MOTIV Penguin Classic and the Dezy Strong Classic. The Penguins also had top-five finishes at the Eastern Shore Hawk Classic, the Northeast Classic, and the Big Red Invitational.

The Penguins are averaging a school-record 199.44 in Baker games, and their 198.83 average in traditional play is just behind last season's school-record pace. YSU is also on track to set new school standards for spare percentage (68.89%), makeable spare percentage (82.42%), and single pin spare percentage (88.89%).

Individually, Marx is averaging 208.04, which is nearly three pins higher than the current school record for a season and more than seven pins higher than her previous career best. Moore, a fellow junior, leads the team with a 20.22 Baker frame average, and she is averaging 201.52 in traditional games. Marx had five top-10 individual finishes at tournaments this season, which tied for the most in the conference, and Moore had four.

Marx and Moore each earned all-tournament team honors twice during the season, and Jade Cote and Grams were all-tournament pics once apiece. That balance has been a key to YSU's success in 2022-23.

YSU's All-Tournament Team Honors

Kirsten Moore - MOTIV Penguin Classic
Jade Cote - Dezy Strong Classic
Kirsten Moore - Northeast Classic
Madyson Marx - PVAMU Invitational
Madyson Marx - Big Red Invitational
Megan Grams - Southland Championship

With YSU's regular-season success, Kuberski was voted the Southland Coach of the Year by his peers. Kuberski was previously the Southland and National Tenpin Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2019-20 as the Penguins were in the conversation to earn an at-large berth to the national tournament before the pandemic ended the season.

Recapping the Southland Bowling League Championship

At its last tournament, Youngstown State finished fourth at the Southland Bowling League Championship at Rowlett Bowlarama in Texas. The Penguins were the fourth seed coming into the event, and they fought off elimination twice to finish fourth. YSU dropped its opening match to Sam Houston, and it showed resilience by prevailing in elimination matches against Valparaiso and top-seeded Vanderbilt. The Penguins fell to Louisiana Tech in its bid to make it to the losers' bracket final.

Megan Grams averaged 236.75 in her four traditional games to be named to the All-Tournament Team. She became the third Penguin to be named All-Tournament at the Southland event, joining Emma Dockery and Emma Wrenn last season as YSU finished as the runners-up.