SSU women's bowling gets three top-20 finishes from Rearick, Bittner, Higgins; Bears finish seventh at OBC Match No. 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The women's bowling program at Shawnee State may have had heavy graduation losses in the form of Chloe Long and Skylar Lane, but the returning Bears, along with a newcomer, certainly played with collective pride throughout the season opening Ohio Bowling Conference Match No. 1 on Saturday.

Hannah Rearick, Olyvia Bittner and Morgan Higgins proved to be impressive throughout individual play en route to giving Shawnee State three top-20 finishes as a team, and the Bears, behind Rearick, Bittner, Higgins, Onesti Evans, Emma Billenstein and Maria Mara, performed impressively as a group, notching the third-best Baker score as the Bears collected a seventh-place finish in the 16-team women's field at the Columbus Bowling Palace.

As a group, Shawnee State knocked down 4,626 pins in a competitive field that saw the top seven teams -- Muskingum, St. Vincent (Pa.), Wright State, Rio Grande, Northwestern Ohio, Baldwin Wallace and SSU -- separated by just 333 pins after individual and Baker competition. Second through seventh place was even tighter -- as Shawnee State finished only 141 pins back of a runner-up finish.

In finishing seventh, Shawnee State finished better than Ohio State, Robert Morris, Mount Vernon Nazarene, Tiffin, Ohio Northern, Wittenberg, Thomas More, Kent State and Capital.

Individual efforts:

Individually, Rearick -- a talented veteran bowler who has been at or near the top of the lineup, continued her form Saturday with consistent play. The Lebanon, Ohio native bowled a four-game 697 to average 174.25 pins per game and finish ninth in the 100-player field individually. The senior bowled a best score of 181 in Game 2 while notching marks of 171, 176 and 169 pins, respectively, in Games 1, 3 and 4.

Bittner, an experienced and consistent hand like Rearick, nabbed a 14th place showing on the leaderboard by collecting a four-game 678 to average a 169.5 pin mark per round. Bittner bowled a 197 in Game 2 for her highest output of the evening as the senior from Cincinnati, Ohio continued making her own presence known in the lineup.

Right behind Bittner, Higgins finished 17th as the sophomore from Galloway, Ohio averaged 168.5 pins per game in her own top-20 showing. Higgins' best was a 197 in Game 1, with the sophomore adding in a 170 in Game 4.

Evans and Billenstein, who bowled in three games each, finished 65th and 66th, respectively, in individual competition while Mara, who bowled in two games, tied for 78th on the board. Billenstein's 175 in Game 1 led the trio.

Bears pick it up further in Baker play

As a team, Shawnee State acquitted itself quite well in Baker play -- which consisted of eight team games.

Out of those eight affairs, Shawnee State posted the best Baker score (199) in Game 3 and notched the second-best Baker totals in Games 1 (178) and 4 (198). Shawnee State ultimately dropped 1,364 pins -- finishing only behind Muskingum and St. Vincent (Pa.) in Bakers.

Additional

Shawnee State will be back in action Saturday, Oct. 19 when the Bears play at the Columbus Bowling Palace once again for what will be the second Ohio Bowling Conference match of the season.