ORLANDO, Fla. – The Sacred Heart University bowling team hosted the star-studded Destination Florida tournament this weekend, placing eighth at the three-day event that concluded on Sunday. 

This weekend's tournamet featured 12 teams ranked in the National Tenpin Coaches Association preseason poll. The event was highlighted by defending national champs No. 1 Jacksonville State, No. 2 Arkansas State, No. 3 Youngstown State, No. 4 Vanderbilt and No. 5 Nebraska. 

The Pioneers finished the weekend with a record of 8-5, going a perfect 5-0 in traditional matches. SHU tallied wins over No. 6 North Carolina A&T State (1012-928), No. 7 Louisiana Tech (985-967) and No. 13 Tulane (998-937). 

SHU tallied three wins in Baker play on Friday, defeating Florida A&M (1063-624), Daemen (901-852) and Monmouth (1071-951). The Pioneers also suffered a heart-breaking six-pin loss to national runners-up Arkansas State, 976-970. 

Sacred Heart entered the championship rounds as the sixth seed. Unfortunately for the Pios, they suffered losses to Youngstown State and Louisiana Tech to place eighth. 

In the traditional portion of the tournament, Madilyn Yockel was second among the bowlers that appeared in all five traditional matches with an average score of 232.0. Yockel was named to the all-tournament team in recognition of her strong play. 

Paige Donovan (202.4) and Hope Bunk (200.4) also maintained 200+ averages in the five traditional matches. Megan Prettyman had a stellar three-match average of 214.67. 

The Pioneers will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 9, for the opening day of the SHU Bowl for the Cure, hosted at the AMF Circle Lanes in East Haven, Conn.