KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown University women's bowling, which came up one win shy of advancing to last year's East Coast Conference championship match, is once again expected to be among the top teams in the conference. The Golden Bears were picked third in the ECC Preseason Poll and start pursuing their goals when the 2023-24 season begins Saturday at the Bud Whitman Memorial.
 
Fourth-year head coach Angela Reynolds has most of her roster back, including a pair of All-ECC selections in First Teamer Chloe Sromovski (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) and Second Teamer Megan Hanaway (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township). Supporting that duo is talented sophomore Madison Brenneman (York, Pa./Central York), who was named to the 2023 ECC All-Tournament Team.
 
Kutztown, which won 50 or more matches for the second time in three seasons, enjoyed its highest win total (52) and winning percentage (.598) during Reynolds' tenure last season. The Bears' made it all the way to round seven of the ECC Championship, their longest run since finishing as runner-up in 2015-16.
 
Sromovski, a senior from Wilkes-Barre, has been a workhorse for the Maroon and Gold during her career and last year was no exception. She led the team in complete frames in both traditional format (295) and Baker format (609) play. Sromovski was tops for the Bears in fill percentage, strikes, spares and makeable spares in both formats and earned her second consecutive team MVP award.
 
Hanaway is looking to build on her best collegiate season, which saw her lead the team in Baker frame average (18.70) and put up a strong 17.59 frame average in traditional play. She was one of just two players to top 200 strikes in Baker play (210) and had a 41.1% strike percentage which was just shy of Sromovski's team-leading 42.1%. The Forked River, N.J., native shared the team lead in Baker fill percentage at 79.5%.
 
Brenneman impressed during her rookie season well before taking home ECC All-Tournament Team honors. The Central York product put forth the third-highest frame averages in traditional (17.89) and Baker (17.71) formats and posted the second-best Baker fill percentage (79.5%) on the team.
 
Depth will be key to KU's success and Reynolds has plenty of it. Junior Ally Sipe (York, Pa./Central York) bowled 401 Baker frames and 193 traditional frames with 17.43 and 17.78 averages, respectively. Sophomore Shelby Wunch (Easton, Md./Easton) completed more than 100 frames in both Baker and traditional formats, while averaging scores above 17.2/frame in each.
 
Fellow sophomores Sydney Snyder (Morrisville, Pa./Conwell-Egan Catholic) and Meghan Ripley (Bel Air, Md./Fallston) each showed promise during their first seasons as Golden Bears. Senior Alyssa Blood (Birdsboro, Pa./Daniel Boone) put forth a 17.85 frame average in 132 Baker frames and provides veteran depth along with junior Alexis Schweizer (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) and senior Joanne Reitnour (Mahanoy City, Pa./Mahanoy Area).
 
There are four freshmen joining the Golden Bears this year: Natalie Conrad (Wyoming, Pa./Dallas), Brooke Heimbach (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown), Kayla Mackney (Burlington, N.J./Burlington Township) and Cassie Mockler (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley).
 
The Golden Bears were picked tied for third in the ECC Preseason Poll along with Daemen. Both teams received 75 points behind defending champion Mercyhurst (98, 8 first-place votes) and runner-up Molloy (79 points, 1 first-place vote). Kutztown also begins the season ranked 15th in the NTCA Division II/III Poll.
 
Kutztown is scheduled to play in eight regular season tournaments ahead of the 2024 ECC Championship at AMF Dewey Garden Lanes in Rochester, N.Y., March 22-24. There will be two opportunities to see the team compete in Pennsylvania this season. Kutztown hosts the Golden Bear Invite at Berks Lanes in Sinking Spring, Pa., Oct. 21-22., and travels to Mount Joy, Pa. (Clearview Lanes) for the Mount Shootout Feb. 9-11.