Bowling Concludes Fall Slate at Louisville Invitational

LOUISVILLE, Ken. – Both Avila bowling teams wrapped up action in the first semester of their second season of competition at the 2022 NAIA Louisville Invitational over the weekend in Kentucky.

Facing a small but very challenging field of exclusively NAIA competitors, both Eagle teams battled through adverse conditions in and out of the alley, not to mention top tier talent on the lanes, to carve out a solid finish. The Avila men won one elimination match on Sunday, capping off a strong first semester for the Eagles in year two of the program.

The NAIA Invitational featured a format at 16 baker games split up over Saturday and Sunday, followed by five team games on Sunday and then a single-elimination pool-style bracket to determine the champion on Sunday. Both Eagle teams were remarkably consistent across all the different formats: both Avila teams finished in 11^th place in a field of 12 teams after competition on Saturday and remained in that position after Sunday.

Speaking of consistent, all of the Eagle women turned in remarkably similar overall finishes in the overall standings on Sunday. 75 bowlers recorded averages over the five team games, and Avila’s five bowlers all finished with a pinfall total between 25^th and 40^th. Claire Busch led the Eagles with an average of just shy of 180, and Devyn Coleman was right behind – two places and eight total pins behind, in fact – with a 178 average.

Nick Hays led the way for the Avila men with a solid 180 average, a top 25 mark in the field, and Brody Stanback wasn’t far behind with a 177 clip, also good for a top 30 mark. Seeded 11^th in the single elimination, best-of-three baker set playoff round on Sunday, the Avila men took down 10^th-seeded Campbellsville in three sets to advance to the second round, where they were eliminated by Sienna Heights. The Eagle women, meanwhile, were knocked out in the first round by 8^th-seeded Lourdes. Team winners were not immediately made available by the host institution.

That officially puts a bow on the fall semester and a busy month of November for Avila bowling. The Eagles will actually have two months off of competition, but they will return in a big way when Avila hosts its first home invitational at Aaron’s in Belton in January. Many more details will be announced closer to the event, so stay tuned to avilaathletics.com for all your updates from across the Eagle Empire.