ORLANDO, Fla. – The Sacred Heart University women's bowling team finished eighth in a talented 18-team field at the SHU-hosted Destination Florida tournament, which featured 11 nationally-ranked teams and ran Friday-Sunday, Oct. 27-29, in Orlando, Fla.

The No. 17 nationally-ranked Pioneers went 6-4 in their 10 qualifying matches before getting to the bracket-style final day. SHU finished 2-3 in the Baker portion of qualifying on the opening day Friday, with wins over Emmanuel (1,140-910) and Daemen (937-856). 

For the second straight week, Sacred Heart excelled in the traditional format, going 4-1 on Saturday. After falling to NEC foe No. 11 Duquesne in their first match, SHU went on to beat Monmouth (979-968), eventual champions No. 6 Youngstown State (1,063-977), No. 23 Delaware State (1,083-932) and UAB (990-892). 

Leading the way in the traditional matches was Paige Donovan, who bowled all five and maintained a 209.60 average. Hannah Manetta also bowled all five traditional matches with a 207.00 average. Molly Chiesa held the highest average of bowlers that appeared in four matches at 211.75. Karleigh LeMond led all of SHU's first years with a 206.33 average over three matches. 

The final seeding came down to bracketed play on Sunday, where the Pioneers were seeded seventh after qualifying. SHU started bracket play with a tightly-contested 1,210-1,108 setback to No. 15 FDU before bouncing back to defeat No. 22 Tulane 1,337-1,328. The Pios then had a rematch against FDU in the seventh-place match, ultimately falling by a 1,068-992 final score.

Sacred Heart will have an almost two-week break before returning to the lanes for the first NEC meet of the season on Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 11-12, in North Brunswick, N.J.