No. 17 Tulane Bests Defending National Champ, Advances in CUSA Championship

HARAHAN, La. – The 17^th-ranked and 11^th-seeded Tulane Green Wave was locked in a back-and-forth battle Thursday afternoon against Youngstown State, ranked and seeded No. 7. The elimination mega-match went the full distance, but the Green Wave prevailed in the seventh game of the best-of-seven Baker match to down the defending national champion and advance in the Conference USA Championship at Colonial Lanes.

With the win, Tulane has picked up one win in each of the three CUSA Championships since the league introduced bowling in the 2023-24 campaign. This was the first time Tulane has faced the Penguins in the tournament.

The Wave fell behind in the contest early despite a solid showing in the traditional match. The Penguins played in the morning portion and fell to the contenders' bracket after a loss to Arkansas State, but Youngstown State rallied to post a 949, topping Tulane's 844 mark to claim a 1-0 edge in the mega-match. Mia Stolakis led the Wave with a score of 225 as the only Tulane player over 200. Juanelyz Solla tallied 173 pins, and Paige Matiasek tallied 159. Valeria Colon recorded a score of 144 with Linnea Holcomb right behind her at 143.

Tulane needed to bounce back in the Bake match and did just that, topping the Penguins 1,042-898. The match started off tight as both teams scored 174 in the opening game. Tulane rallied from there, however, scoring at least 200 in each of the following games with marks of 226, 229, 200, and 213. Youngstown State could only muster 200 once, notching scores of 203, 169, 192, and 160.

With the mega-match tied, the best-of-seven Baker match was needed to determine a winner. The Penguins started off with the early lead, winning the first game 202-192. Tulane rallied back to claim the second 236-181. The Wave pulled ahead after winning the third game 231-205. Tulane had an opportunity to claim a 3-1 lead, but in the 10^th frame a near-strike was only a spare as one pin wobbled and refused to fall on Stolakis's shot. As a result, the Penguins edged out a 186-181 victory to level the contest 2-2. Tulane won the following game 204-154 to reach the brink of victory, but Youngstown State did not quit, winning game six 210-194 to force the winner-take-all game seven. As had been the theme all afternoon, it came down to the wire with the Penguins striking out the 10^th frame. However, Stolakis held down the anchor position and delivered the winning shot for the Wave, who prevailed 198-193.

Tulane advances in the bracket and will face Sam Houston tomorrow morning. The Bearkats are the No. 8 seed in the tournament and ranked ninth nationally. The mega-match is set for 9:00 a.m. on lanes 19-20. Should Tulane win, the Wave will take on the loser of tomorrow morning's match-up between Jacksonville State and Nebraska, seeded No. 1 and No. 4, respectively, at 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon.

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No. 17 Tulane Bests Defending National Champ, Advances in CUSA Championship

Players Mentioned

Valeria Colon

Linnea Holcomb

Paige Matiasek

Juanelyz Solla

Mia Stolakis

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