The Sacred Heart University bowling team competed well at the 2017 Music City Classic, hosted by Vanderbilt University March 17-19. SHU was perfect in the final day, with three wins over top-8 teams to finish in third place. SHU posted a 5-3 mark over the first two days of the event, qualifying for the Sunday rounds in fifth place.
Amanda Tyrrell led the team in frame average with 20.37 averaging 200 for both days. Kristin Zimmerman also bowled well 20.09 followed closely by Amanda Nardiello at 20.07. Zimmerman averaged 207.4 during team games to tie for seventh in the 237-player field, just missing out on All-Tournament Team honors. Tyrell averaged 201 to rank 18th.
Day 1 – Friday, March 17
Match 1
#11 SHU 1,056 - Louisiana Tech 887
- Tyrrell led the way with a 232
- Nardiello notched a 212 and Hoffman a 210 over 10 frames.
Match #2
#7 Stephen F. Austin 990, #11 SHU 896
- Sarah Rhodes led SHU with a 210 in the match against the defending national champion
Match #3
#5 Vanderbilt 931, #11 SHU 872
- Morris came off of the bench for a 198 in full baker game
Match #4
#11 SHU 956, Lincoln Memorial (TN) 834
- Hoffman was the Pioneers top performer in the second win of the day, at 211
Match #5
#11 SHU 960, #20 Franklin Pierce 890
- Kristin Zimmerman came off of the bench to contribute a 212 in the victory
- Nardiello led the effort with a score of 226, while Hoffman was at 201
Day 2 – Saturday, March 18
Match #6
#11 SHU 1,044 - #12 University of Wisconsin Whitewater
- Strong performances from Tyrrell, 242, and Zimmerman, 234, got SHU started with a win on the second day
Match #7
#11 SHU 1,026 - #17 Adelphi 969
- The Pioneers had three score over 200 for their second consecutive team match over 1,000
- Rhodes led the way at 235, with a 225 from Tyrrell and a 203 from Hoffman
Match #8
#11 SHU 872 - Bethune Cookman 862
- Nardiello tallied a 233 in the match, helping SHU to its fifth consecutive win
Match #9
#9 Delaware State 956 - #11SHU 952
- Four Pioneers eclipsed 200 in the match, led by the 224 effort of Zimmerman
- Hoffman tallied 210, while Tyrrell and Nardiello both tallied a 205 effort
Match #10
#11 SHU 952 - Mount Aloysius 778
- SHU got back to its winning ways and clinched the five-seed in the Sunday bracket play
- Tori Boughton led three Pioneers over 200 with a 208, followed by Hoffman, 205 and Zimmerman, 202.
Day 3 – Sunday, March 19
Match #11
#11 SHU 4 - #6 Fairleigh Dickinson
- The two NEC rivals swapped victories, with SHU equaling the match with wins in games two, four and six, before winning game seven for the victory
- Tyrrell filled all 14 frames, starting with six straight strikes – eight total
- SHU tallied 200 or more points in three of its four wins, with a high watermark of 207 in the decisive seventh game
Match #12
#11 SHU 3.5, #5 Vanderbilt 3.5
- SHU avenged a day one loss to Vanderbilt with an exciting victory that needed a roll off to decide
- The Pioneers earned the win with a 96-78 edge in the roll off, with a clutch double from Hoffman and Rhodes
- SHU forced the extra frames with a 202-191 win in game seven
- Nardiello struck 9-14 shots as Tyrrell started with seven out of eight strikes
Match #13
#11 SHU, 4 - #7 Stephen F. Austin 2
- The Pioneers dropped the first two games but rallied with four 200+ games to earn third place
- Zimmerman sparked the run with 8-12 strikes, including five in a row
- SHU notched 243 points in the fifth game and a match-best 256 in the decisive sixth game
- Nardiello moved into the anchor position and threw the final strike in the game six win
