The Tulane women’s bowling team recently received the honor of participating in the United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Team Championships Sectional Qualifier, which will take place this weekend, March 9-11, in Fairview Heights, Illinois. The team is currently ranked No. 9 in the nation.

The team rose to the No. 9 ranking in December, following the release of the National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 Poll. Ever since the announcement of this poll, Tulane has performed well enough to maintain its high status. Though the team participated in several qualifiers, this is the first top 10 rank in program history.

Women’s bowling has had a consistently strong season, finishing in the top 10 of every tournament so far. Each of these tournaments featured numerous ranked teams. Standouts from the team’s impressive start include freshman Madison McCall and senior Michelle Ng, who have each scored well in multiple tournaments.

The pair has consistently finished within the top 50 players at each tournament attended. McCall has averaged 204.95 pins per match, and Ng leads the team with an impressive 206.04 average. As a whole, the team maintains around a 195.72 average within a single match when attending a tournament.

This weekend, the team will compete against No. 20 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and No. 7 Stephen F. Austin College, along with 15 other unranked schools. The USBC invited the top 64 teams from the regular season to the Sectional Qualifier. Four different blocks of the sectionals will take place across the country. Tulane will be the second highest ranked team competing in the Fairview Heights block.

The tournament will represent the all-Baker format, a style of bowling that allows teams to work together to comprise a score cohesively. The all-Baker format is more commonly seen within larger collegiate tournaments. The four teams that conclude the tournament with the highest pinfall of the total 64 will advance to the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships.

This will be Tulane’s third consecutive year of competing in the USBC Sectionals. The past two years have seen the team placing eighth overall in this invitational. The team is looking to make strides past this precedent this season and continue on to the Championships.

Following the USBC Sectional, the team will compete in the Music City Classic in Smyrna, Tennessee, March 16-18. The tournament will be hosted by the No. 4 Vanderbilt University Commodores and will feature 20 of the NTCA Top 25 teams.