EMMITSBURG, Md. (November 6, 2022) – Battling through adverse alley conditions all weekend long, the Mount St. Mary's bowling team persevered to deliver 12 wins out of 13, defeating Coppin State twice in bracket play to capture the Virginia Union Invitational Championship.
 
The championship victory is the team's second on the season, joining the Mount Shootout back in October.
 
"I'm really proud of this team for accepting these conditions are what they are." Head Coach Kenneth DeGraaf said post tournament. "The first two days we were so frustrated striking was near impossible to so continuously because that's what we are used to. We changed our mindset to be more mature and accept cleaning was good enough. Ironically, that made us strike more because we weren't so stressed and carrying those emotions over shot-to-shot."
 
#11 Mount: 4 (166-191-152-192-169-191-187) | Coppin State: 3 (163-201-174-152-209-143-161)
 
Sunday's opener proved to be the toughest battle during the brackets. The Mountaineers had to dig after eking out a three-pin win before falling behind 2-1. A 192 game four leveled the proceedings, but Coppin's 209 response prompted a pair of do-or-die games. Mount rose to the challenge with scores of 191 and 187, completing the comeback.
 
#11 Mount: 4 (160-147-175-172) | Virginia State: 0 (79-77-52-98)
 
The seven-game victory gave the Mount an automatic berth in the championship final. With Virginia State securing a spot on the opposite end of the bracket, the tournament pitted the two on the same pair in a match that counted towards official standings but with no impact on the bracket itself. Averaging a 163.5 in the sweep, the team readied to face Coppin again in the title bout.
 
#11 Mount: 4 (170-197-189-182-217) | Coppin State: 1 (187-165-186-165-147)
 
Like their first matchup, the Eagles came out swinging with the early lead thanks to a 187 score. But the Mount's response came swifter with a 197. After edging with a 189-186 game three, the Mount posted two excellent scores on the tough conditions, including their Sunday best 217 to clinch the tournament victory.
 
With the 12-1 weekend, Mount St. Mary's improves to 33-13 this season.
 
Two weekends from now, the team concludes its fall semester slate with the Hawk Classic in Millsboro, Delaware beginning November 18^th.