The Valpo bowling team wrapped up its regular season this weekend at the Columbia 300 Music City Classic in Smyrna, Tenn., placing 20^th out of 33 competing teams. Sophomore Isabella Palamaro (Thiells, N.Y./North Rockland) had an impressive individual performance in traditional team action, ranking 15^th in scoring average in the highly competitive field.

How It Happened – Friday

• Valpo opened the tournament Friday with five-game baker matches, and drew a tough assignment out of the gate, facing off against #1 McKendree. The Beacons gave the nation’s top-ranked team a good run before falling, 1090-1023. Valpo’s 1023 score in that match slot would have beaten 28 of the field’s 32 teams.
• The Beacons dropped a 1004-934 decision to Drury, and followed with a 1047-988 defeat to #8 Stephen F. Austin.
• Valpo earned its first win of the weekend in the fourth match slot, taking down #23 Central Missouri, 908-816.
• Day one concluded with a 923-777 loss to #5 North Carolina A&T.

How It Happened – Saturday

• Traditional team action began on Saturday with a 1002-955 loss to #24 Monmouth. Freshmen Kaitlyn Cavender (New Baltimore, Mich./Anchor Bay) and Lilu Smith (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) posted matching 213 games to lead Valpo in the opener, while Palamaro began her strong day with a 200.
• Smith paced the Beacons with a 199 as they took down Alabama State in their second match of the day, 880-823.
• The program’s best effort as a team in a traditional match since 2014 followed, as Valpo defeated Alabama A&M 1075-907 — the sixth-highest score in program history in traditional action.
• All five Valpo starters broke 200 in that victory. Palamaro led the way with a 233, while Smith and Cavender posted games of 223 and 215, respectively. Sophomore Addy Bates (Cedar Park, Texas/Cedar Park) and senior Allura Magsino (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Hoffman Estates) rounded out the quintet of 200+ games with a pair of 202 efforts, Magsino’s her new collegiate best.
• Palamaro paced Valpo with a 201 in a 908-838 loss to #16 Sacred Heart, and followed with a collegiate-best game of 259 to lead the way as the Beacons closed the day with a 948-773 victory over North Central. Palamaro concluded the day with a 216.6 average over the five matches, good for 15^th place individually.

How It Happened – Sunday

• Best-of-seven baker matches in bracket play Sunday morning began with a matchup against #21 Lewis. Valpo dropped the first two games before posting scores of 202 and 211 in games three and four to even the match at 2-2. The Flyers came back and won the final two games, however, to take the 4-2 win.
• The defeat dropped Valpo into a matchup with #18 UW-Whitewater, and it played out just like the Beacons’ first match of the day. Down 2-0, Valpo registered games of 234 and 203 to tie the match before UW-Whitewater closed out a 4-2 win.
• The tournament finale was a matchup with Alabama State. Valpo dropped games one, three and five, but three times came back to tie the match, thanks to games of 218, 246 and 217 in two, four and six, respectively. Alabama State claimed a narrow 183-180 win in the decisive seventh game, however, as the Beacons fell 4-3.

Next Up

Valpo (47-53) heads to the Southland Bowling League Championship next weekend in Harahan, La. The tournament begins on Friday, with the champion earning the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.