Schedule | Roster
 
KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's bowling team is excited for the start of a new season, especially one with many new faces. And even the older faces are looking to pick up where they left off since the last time KU competed, back in February of 2020.
 
Like with every other winter sports team on campus, the Golden Bears had their season canceled last year due to the pandemic. That was also added on top of having the East Coast Conference Championship Tournament canceled in March, just days before it was set to begin. Head coach Angela Reynolds, set to begin her second full season with KU, was disappointed with how the 2020 season ended so abruptly because she knew her team was onto something special at ECCs.
 
Kutztown had won seven of its last 12 matches at the James Brown Invitational in Towson, Md., the weekend of Feb. 14-16, including ranked victories over No. 10 Duquesne and No. 13 Sacred Heart on the final day.
 
KU opens its campaign this weekend at the Bud Whitman Memorial event in New Castle, Del., this weekend (Oct. 9 and 10). Competition on Saturday starts at 11 a.m.
 
This year's edition of the Golden Bears will feature a mixed balance of upperclassmen and underclassmen. The senior leaders will include Molly Agnello (Stroudsburg, Pa./Pocono Mountain East), Ashley Fister (Northumberland, Pa./Shikellamy), Lindsey Gotwalt (Hanover, Md./Meade), Lauren Gudknecht (Churchville, Pa./Council Rock South), Madison Lund (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg) and Kelly Normandin (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst Central).
 
"Leadership is paramount this year," said Reynolds. "Teaching the younger girls what should be going on in lane play and how to play in tournaments. We need communication to be strong this year more than any other with the large group of inexperienced athletes we have. We need to play to our level to be successful."
 
Reynolds is also expecting leadership out of juniors Eleni Feggulis (South River, N.J./South River), Samantha Jaeger (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport), Joanne Reitnour (Mahanoy City, Pa./Mahanoy Area) and Rachel Wagner (Cheektowaga, N.Y./Depew) both on match days and in practice.
 
The schedule is different from in years past. Kutztown will not be competing at local alleys. For tournaments that it will help host with other schools, they will mainly be played in Delaware. KU will hit four different states this season in competition, going to Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Connecticut.
 
"It would obviously be nice to be playing closer to campus," Reynolds said. "But there are some things about the schedule this year that is exciting. We go to Connecticut for the first time for the Bowl for the Cure tournament. The James Brown Invitational [in Baltimore, Md.] is always a great event. I'm also excited about the Griffin Baker Class [on Feb. 5]. Baker play, I feel, is the most exciting part of our matches."
 
The underclassmen that make up the rest of the KU roster this season includes sophomores Alyssa Blood (Birdsboro, Pa./Daniel Boone), Jordan Dean (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport South Manor), Megan Hanaway (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township), Chloe Sromovski (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) and Alexis Wands (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial), along with freshmen Megan Myers (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township), Tayler Parco (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills), Alexis Schweizer (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) and Ally Sipe (York, Pa./Central York).
 
Kutztown is scheduled to compete in 10 tournaments before the season wraps up at East Coast Conference Championship March 25-27.