Our Lady of the Lake University News

OLLU News

OLLU Bowling Team competes in NAIA Invitational in Indianapolis

Thu, Apr. 7, 2011 - [Bowling] - by Patricia Constantin

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. (April 7, 2011) -- Our Lady of the Lake University's Bowling Team and teams from other member schools of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) competed in the NAIA Invitational last weekend, April 1-3. Twenty-four men's teams and 23 women's teams traveled to Indianapolis for the competition that took place at Woodland Bowl.

The matches were live streamed at http://www.ustream.tv/usbc and viewed by more than 27,000 people. Archives of the games are available for viewing.

The teams took part in 24 games of qualifying utilizing the Baker system (five players combine to form one team game) on Friday for the qualifying round.

The Saints men's team, ranked No. 23, took on No. 7 Notre Dame College. Out of eight games played, Notre Dame came out ahead winning 7-1. The Saints then lost to the No. 1 team Webber International 8-0. Next up, the Saints faced No. 17 Grand View, and the two teams tied 4-4 with OLLU winning the tiebreaker game 199-137. The Saints women's team played Notre Dame College and Grand View in the qualifying rounds, as well.

In Round 1, the men were defeated 3-0 by St. Catherine's College - named as outstanding player of the match was Johnny Carranza. The women fell to Bethel University 3-0, and Kimberly Harlow was named outstanding player of the match.

In the third round, the Saints men lost to Calumet College 3-0. Julian Carranza was named outstanding player. The women lost 3-0 against Midland College, and Clarissa Garcia was named outstanding player.

Ernest Silva, captain and founder of the OLLU Bowling Team, and Kim Harlow were named outstanding bowlers of day two.

Overall women's MVP was Danielle Rivas, and men's MVP was Johnny Carranza. Clarissa Garcia received the Sportsmanship Award.

The NAIA elevated bowling to emerging sport status last summer. The move by one of the nation's governing bodies for collegiate athletics puts bowling on the path to becoming a championship sport for dozens of additional colleges and universities across the country.

In the 2010-11 season, teams from 28 schools fielded bowling teams. If 50 or more NAIA member institutions designate bowling as a varsity sport, then bowling will be eligible for championship sport status and an NAIA national championship.

The NAIA has 50,000 student-athletes participating at nearly 300 member colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada. Divided into 25 conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions, the NAIA offers 23 championships in 13 sports. All NAIA bowling programs are members of USBC Collegiate.

COMPLETE RESULTS: Brackets