The Valpo bowling team enjoyed another strong day on the lanes Saturday at the Peacocks Classic, hosted by Upper Iowa in Waterloo, Iowa. Three Beacons rank among the top-four in the individual standings, while Valpo won four of its five matches to remain atop the team standings entering the final day of action.

How It Happened

• Valpo opened the day, contested in the traditional team format, against Marian. The Beacons came out on the wrong end of a tight 922-914 decision, despite games of 214 from Noelle Doody (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) and 200 from Lilu Smith (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln).
• The Beacons bounced back with a 958-875 victory over Aurora in the second match slot. Doody broke 200 for the second straight game, rolling a 201, while Isabella Palamaro (Thiells, N.Y./North Rockland) led the way with a 214 in the victory.
• A 967-567 win over Illinois Wesleyan was next on the docket for Valpo. The largest margin of victory in a traditional team match in program history, Kaitlyn Cavender (New Baltimore, Mich./Anchor Bay) paced the Beacons with a 217 and Doody rolled her third straight game of 200+, posting a 208.
• Four of Valpo’s five bowlers broke 200 in the team’s best effort of the day, as the fourth match slot brought a 1051-838 victory over North Central.
• The win, which came up just seven pins shy of breaking Valpo’s all-time top-10 scores in a traditional team match, was highlighted by a career-best game of 255 from Palamaro. Sophomore Addy Bates (Cedar Park, Texas/Cedar Park) rolled a 222, Cavender registered a 212 and Smith rounded out the quartet of 200+ scores with an even 200.
• Valpo made it four straight wins to end the day with an 871-780 win in the final match slot, led by a 207 by Cavender.
• The Beacons finished the day atop the team standings with a pinfall of 9,243, 103 pins better than second-place Marian.
• While Valpo had its eight-match winning streak snapped in Saturday’s opener, the Beacons are now 12-1 in their last three days of competition.
• Individually, Valpo boasts three of the tournament’s top four averages with one traditional team match remaining on Sunday. Cavender currently tops the team standings with a 201 average, Palamaro sits third with a 197.8 average and Smith ranks fourth with a 195 average.

Next Up

Valpo (30-30) concludes the Peacocks Classic on Sunday with three matches — one final traditional team match before a pair of best-of-seven baker matches to determine the final placements. The Beacons are in search of their fifth tournament victory in program history and their first since the Virginia Union Invitational in November 2015. Action on Sunday begins at 8:25 a.m.