SSU women's bowling gets top-20 efforts from Bittner, Evans; finishes sixth in 16-team OBC Match No. 3
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Consistency was the name of the game Saturday for the women's bowling squad at Shawnee State -- as top-20 finishes by Olyvia Bittner and Onesti Evans and a solid outing from Hannah Rearick led the Bears to a sixth-place showing in the Ohio Bowling Conference's Match No. 3, which was a 16-team event that was held at Columbus Bowling Palace in Columbus, Ohio.
Shawnee State, who dropped 4,835 pins in varsity competition, beat in-state foes in Baldwin Wallace, Mount Vernon Nazarene, Tiffin, Wittenberg, Ohio Northern, Kent State and Capital as well as Robert Morris (Pa.), Thomas More (Ky.) and St. Vincent (Pa.) to claim a showing well inside the top half of the Ohio Bowling Conference Tournament field.
Overview
In individual competition, the Bears dropped 3,397 pins, with Shawnee State adding in another 1,438 pins in Baker competition to finish with the above total. SSU was particularly strong in Baker play, as the Bears dropped 190 pins or more in Games 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8 -- and posted the second-highest Baker scores in Games 3 (221) and 8 (208).
Bittner, who continued building on her strong play throughout the season on Saturday, finished 15th in the 92-bowler field by knocking down 717 pins over four contests to average 179.25 pins per frame. Bittner bowled a 201 in Game 1 and was consistent from there on, bowling marks of 175, 171 and 170 in Games 2 through 4, respectively.
Evans, who finished right behind Bittner in 16th place, dropped 714 pins over four frames to average 178.5 pins per rack. Like Bittner, Evans was also consistent, bowling marks of 170, 183, 187 and 174 in Games 1 through 4, respectively.
Hannah Rearick added in a 26th place finish to put three Shawnee State bowlers in the top-30 overall, and in doing so, posted a Game 3 mark of 178 to continue joining Bittner and Evans as the team's leaders from a production standpoint.
Behind them, Morgan Higgins' 198 in Game 2, Emma Billenstein's 189 in Game 4 and contributions from Maria Mara rounded out the Shawnee State varsity's showing.
From a junior varsity standpoint, Shawnee State finished third, knocking down 3,912 pins in all between individual games as well as Baker contests. Kylie Fowler (16th), Brooklyn Foose and McKenna Rhoads (tied for 17th), Jackie Aubry (22nd) and Cali Baird (23rd) all contributed to the junior varsity tallies, with the five bowlers combining to post the second-best Baker scores in Games 2, 4 and 7.
Shawnee State will be back in action one final time during the 2024 portion of the schedule before turning the page to the 2025 side from an event standpoint. The Bears will bowl in the Fort Wayne Classic, which will be held at Pro Bowl West in Fort Wayne, Ind on Saturday, Dec. 7.
