KENOSHA, WISC. (November 13, 2016)—The Sacred Heart bowling team finished sixth at the Warhawk Classic, which featured many of the top teams in the country. Amanda Tyrrell (Selden, N.Y.) was the Pioneers' highest individual finisher, averaging 209.40 per game to rank sixteenth.

SHU went 4-1 in baker matches on Day 1, followed by a 1-3 record in team matches on Day 2 to finish qualifying at 5-4, but its overall pinfall of 9,775 made Sacred Heart the five seed in Sunday's bracket.

The Pioneers began bracket play by knocking defending National Champions Stephen F. Austin into the losers bracket with a 4-2 victory. But SHU was unable to carry the momentum into the next match against an always tough Nebraska team losing 4-2, and sent to take on the Lumberjacks again to determine who took fifth and sixth place. The teams pushed the match to its max with Sacred Heart falling in seven games.

Next up, the Pioneers head to Millsboro, Del. For the annual UMBC Hawk Classic Nov. 18-20.

Day 1:

SHU went 4-1 in baker matches on the first day, with their only loss coming in the first match of the day to McKendree 985-965.

Match 1:

• McKendree 985 – SHU 965
• The Pioneers threw two 200+ games in an attempt to win the first match of the tournament, including a 258 in game five, but it wasn't enough to overcome McKendree

Match 2:

• SHU 965 – Maryville 703
• Sacred Heart made the final push to pick up its first win of the tournament throwing 231 and 220 in games four and five respectively

Match 3:

• SHU 1013 – Valparaiso 862
• The Pioneers continued to show they get better as the match goes on, recording two 200+ games in games four and five again with a 210 and a 238 

Match 4:

• SHU 1049 – Vanderbilt 934
• In their highest scoring match of the day, the Pioneers threw four of five games for 200 or more points, with their best game of 231 coming in game three 

Match 5:

• SHU 987 – Lincoln 623
• A pair of 200+ games in games one and four led Sacred Heart to victory over Lincoln in the final match of the day

Day 2:

After a good day of baker matches, Sacred Heart stumbled in team games going 1-3 on the day.

Match 1:

• Nebraska 1,002 – SHU 988
• Tyrrell and Casey Smith (Chittenango, N.Y.) threw 200+ games for the Pioneers, with Lauren Hoffman (Monroe Township, N.J.) missing SHU's third by just five points
• Tyrrell threw a 265 game for Sacred Heart's highest game of the day

Match 2:

• Arkansas St. 1,035 – SHU 933
• Sarah Rhodes (Sparta, N.J.) led the way with SHU's only 200+ game of the match, throwing a 234

Match 3:

• SHU 957 – Elmhurst 856
• Rhodes led the Pioneers to their lone win of the day throwing a 225

Match 4:

• The Pioneers totaled 1,011 in the bye round with Amanda Nardiello (Brick, N.J.) reentering the lineup to throw a 238 

Match 5:

• Stephen F. Austin 940 – SHU 907
• Tyrrell bookended the day leading the squad, this time throwing a 201 game

The Bracket:

First Round:

• SHU 4 – Stephen F. Austin 2
• The Jacks took the first game 234-178, but the Pioneers evened the match with a 193-159 win in game two
• SFA took claimed its second and final win in game three, 227-218, before Sacred Heart dominated the final three games (254-233, 234-174, 181-170) to defeat the National Champion

Second Round:

• Nebraska 4 – SHU 2
• The Pioneers set a new team record in the big win filling 40 consecutive frames
• After downing the reigning NCAA Champ, the Pioneers took on a perennial favorite in Nebraska
• Sacred Heart saw its momentum from the previous round's win carry over as the Pioneers took games one and two 195-180 and 216-192 respective, but run out after that
• Nebraska took the last four straight 189-160, 193-181, 224-156 and 170-134 to fall in the bracket

Third Round:

• Stephen F. Austin 4 – SHU 3
• In the final round of the bracket, the Pioneers took on SFA one more time to determine who would finish fifth and who would finish sixth
• The Jacks took the first two games 223-196 and 230-178, but SHU answered by taking the next three (213-164, 213-180, 70-169) claiming a match lead going into game six
• SFA pushed the match to a decisive game seven with a 190-164 win in the sixth, and sealed its victory with a 248-204 win