The girls’ bowling team made school history on February 15th by becoming the first girls’ bowling team to win a state championship. The girls had a solid season with an outstanding record of 9-1. They were runners-up to Center Grove in Sectionals, second in qualifying for Regionals, and Semi-State runners-up, punching their ticket to the state finals.
In the state finals, the Royal bowlers had an astounding performance, especially for being at the alley from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. They defeated Boone Grove 315-286 to get their spot in the semi-finals versus Snider, where they came in as the underdogs, ranked third. They went on to defeat Snider 333-304 to go to the state championship.
Their state championship opponent was Evansville North, the reigning state champions from 2024. After the first match, the Royals were down by 36 pins and secured their comeback win by 8 pins in the second match. After being down, the team was determined to make a comeback and had faith in their abilities.
“We knew it would be hard, but we reminded each other that we were still in it and we can come back if we have a good game. We kept our energy up and grabbed the momentum early by stringing together some good frames and most importantly just having fun while getting a great team win,” junior Sarah Hoffman said.
Junior Alison Holden was Roncalli’s leader for individual bowling and made it to the Semi-State. She finished in 8th place missing a state spot by only 3 pins.
“The team has evolved and grown a lot throughout the season, from bowling to growing closer as a team. We were all committed to practicing each week, especially leading up to state,” Holden said.
The girls bowling team will return 8 of their 10 bowlers for the 2025-2026 season.
