The Augustana women’s bowling team sits at fifth after their first CCIW tournament held in Bettendorf, Iowa the weekend of Nov. 19-20. This is the fourth tournament the team has competed at since the season began.

The team’s current success is based on the amount of growth the women have had after each consecutive tournament.

“Putting together what we’ve learned from those tournaments has put us in a position to be successful,” Head Coach Martin Resner said.

Earlier this season at the 5 Seasons Classic the team made a historic milestone of 100 program victories. This helps showcase the growth of the program over the past few years. 

Rose Klinger, junior, credits the team’s victory at the 5 Seasons Classic to her teammates’ resilience and due to it being the first away tournament. 

“I think it was team morale, with the shift in players that forced some people to become leaders and come out of their shells. It forced us to lean on each other, and I think we’re a lot closer as friends, and we want it for each other more, which is a really big thing,” Klinger said.

Unlike most tournaments where scores are inconsistent, during the 5 Seasons Classic the team was able to keep a consistent score throughout the entirety of the tournament, leading them to their victory. 

“We tend to fluctuate with scores, and we were able to be consistent above 170 which is uncommon for us,” Klinger said. This allowed them to keep a high average, leading them to their victory.

In contrast to their success at the 5 Seasons Classic, the Vikings recently had a tournament in Moline and Klinger said it was more stressful, as it was a home tournament. This is because the team is consistently reminded of their academics and their other commitments while playing a home match.

“I think it being a home tournament is more difficult for our focus ecause we’re coming back here, living our other lives and going to do the tournament,” Klinger said.

The bowling team has implemented many changes to help them be more successful this year whether that be at home or away tournaments. One of the changes they have included this year is focusing more on specific skills that they can utilize in their tournament games. 

“This year we’ve spent more time in practice working on spare shooting. We’ve also focused more on understanding the technology of the bowling ball and learning how different bowling balls can help improve our lane play,” Resner said. 

Apart from practicing the specifics with bowling they have also had a change of mindset between the two seasons. Last year the team was more individualized, focusing on how they can improve themselves while this year they have built more of a community with the team. This has helped lessen the tension between the teammates helping create a stronger bond in the team. 

“I know since there were no seniors on the team I had to encourage team camaraderie. We made it more that we were here not to win but to just have fun. I think that’s why we were able to definitely improve our scores,” junior Delaney Walsh said.

Having a good community within the team has helped them create a good atmosphere while practicing and at tournaments. This has helped calm the players nerves before a tournament, allowing players to enter a good headspace before competing.

The women’s bowling team has their next tournament competition on Dec. 3 – 4 at University of Wisconsin Whitewater. With the team’s ongoing practices and focus, the Vikings are looking to come out more successful.

“We have the capability, we have the talent and we have the drive to do well in the next tournaments,” Walsh said.