Women's squad takes match play, men finish 10th at Leatherneck Classic

QUAD CITIES -- After a second-place finish in qualifying, the Mount Mercy women's bowling team swept top-seeded Wichita State in the match play final to win the Leatherneck Classic on Sunday. The Mustang men's squad finished 10th at the event. Mount Mercy's Mackenzie Ullian made the all-tournament team with 1,241 pins over six games for a 206.83 average.

Wichita State, ranked fifth in last week's Collegiate Bowling Power Rankings, took the top spot in qualifying with a total pinfall of 9,387. Top-ranked Mount Mercy was next at 8,898 pins, followed by Baker with 8,839. William Penn (8,675), St. Francis (8,647), St. Ambrose (8,549), Grand View (8,439), and Ottawa (8,394) rounded out the top eight.

The second-seeded Mustangs went unbeaten in match play, needing the minimum six games to claim the team title. They opened with a 221-149, 190-158 defeat of seventh-seeded Grand View in the quarterfinals, then beat sixth-seeded St. Ambrose 231-218, 241-193 in the semis before a 178-154, 178-164 triumph over top-seeded Wichita State in the match play final.

The Mount Mercy men narrowly missed out on match play as only 70 pins separated eighth-place Midland with the 10th-place Mustangs. St. Ambrose topped qualifying with a total pinfall of 10,077. Wichita State (9,777), Wisconsin-Whitewater (9,744), Davenport (9,593), Indiana Tech (9,577), McKendree (9,557), Ottawa (9,507), and Midland (9,397) also made match play. Newman (9,380) was ninth and Mount Mercy (9,327) 10th. Indiana Tech won the match play bracket with a 2-1 victory over second-seeded Wichita State in the final.

This weekend, the Mustang bowlers will be back in Fairview Heights, Ill., for the National Collegiate Team Match Games on Nov. 19-20.