Women’s Bowling ‘spares’ no opponents

By Megan McKay Staff writer

Mercyhurst Women’s Bowling has officially concluded the East Coast Conference Championships and have been crowned Champs.

The team traveled this past weekend to Long Island, New York, to participate in the bowling postseason as the Championships were held on Friday and Saturday, March 25 and 26.

The Lakers have built an impressive resume from their past season after winning four tournaments.

Back in October, the Lakers won their first tournament at their home invitational, followed by winning the Griffin Baker Classic and Wildcat Invite in Delaware.

The Lakers’ most recently took home first place at the Medaille Brunswick Classic in Buffalo.

The Bowling team has not only been successful through team play, but also has collected many individual honors.

Haley Youker has claimed five Bowler of the Week awards and was recently just named Bowler of the Year by the ECC.

Freshman Jenna Stretch also had a phenomenal season and was named Rookie of the Year and Head Coach Michael Machuga was also named Coach of the Year by the ECC.

Machuga talked about Youker and said she has really found her comfort zone and regards her as one of the best lefties in the country.

Machuga also talked about Stretch as a first-year student who has matured and adjusted to the competition nicely.

Machuga described at the beginning of the season that “the end goal is to win the ECC which would automatically put us in the National Championship. Winning the ECC and putting up in the MAC would be an awesome start to building the legacy this team was sculpted for.”

Last season, the team was eliminated at the Championships after entering as the second seed.

After the heartbreaking end to their season the team is back and better, with a lot more depth, and this championship they are going to look to put themselves in a good place.

On the first day of the conference championship the Lakers came out on top. The team recorded four wins and one loss to place first in the standings which earned them a first-round bye for day two.

On the second day they faced off against St. Thomas Aquinas in the second round of the tournament followed by more dominating matches against Roberts Wesleyan and Molloy.

The team looked to continue their success on day three for a Mega Match to crown the champion versus Molloy.

The Lakers were able to come out victorious and earned their first conference championship in program history.

Winning the conference championship is a huge milestone for the program in a historic season. By winning the ECC the team now plays in the NCAA regional round Saturday, April 8, followed by the National Championship the following week in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Coach Machuga has said how special his team is and what they have accomplished in just a little over three years is incredible.

Machuga values trusting the process, which is exactly what his team has done.

“It’s my job, as their coach, to bring out the best in them, come March and April.”

Keep an eye out for what is next for this team!