ARLINGTON, Texas – It was yet another heavily ranked field for the No. 9-ranked Maryville bowling team as they battled the Prairie View A&M Invitational down in Arlington, Texas. The Saints ended the weekend 8-5, earning wins over No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Youngstown State and No. 4 Arkansas State.
 
Morgan Brunner, who was recently selected to Junior Team USA, finished 12th in the field of 81 bowlers. The sophomore averaged 222.83 over six games, shooting under 200 only once over the weekend. Elizabeth Teuber, the reigning GLVC Bowler of the Week, was not far behind in 14th in the individual standings, averaging 220 in Arlington, Texas.
 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Maryville Women's Bowling (@maryvillebowling)

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Friday baker play could not have started better for the Saints as they rolled by Texas Southern before doing the same to No. 3 Nebraska. A battle with the No. 1-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores—the eventual tournament champions—did not fall the Dawgs way, but Maryville rebounded with a 1072-1017 win over No. 12 Louisiana Tech. A loss to No. 8 Sam Houston ended the Friday action for the Saints.
 
On Saturday, the Saints began against the host school in Prairie View A&M, easily rolling past the Panthers, lining them up for a battle with No. 5 Arkansas State, where they fell 1080-1065. But the top five was not safe as the Saints faced their fourth top five ranked foe of the tournament, beating the No. 4 Youngstown State Penguins by just three pins. A win over No. 14 Duquesne and loss to No. 2 Jacksonville State wrapped up the traditional play as the Saints sat as the No. 7-seed on Sunday match play.
 
After losing in four games to the Cornhuskers in their first bout in tournament play, they bounced back with a sweep of Arkansas State to earn seventh place.
 
COACHES CORNER
Head Coach Lauren Russo on the team's performance…
"The girls worked really hard this week. We were the only DII program within the field competing against the top ranked teams in the country and they were able to stay together and trust the process. It's not easy being a small team within a big field of talented teams, but we were able to show up in every match and come away with some good wins."
 
UP NEXT
The Saints are coming home! The next time the Maryville women's bowling team will see the lanes is at home in St. Louis for the Columbia 300 Saints Invitational. The tournament is set to take place on Jan. 31-Feb. 2 at Shrewsbury Lanes. More information to come on MaryvilleSaints.com