COLONIA, N.J. – After claiming the East Coast Conference crown and advancing in the NCAA Bowling Regionals for the first time in over a decade, the Kutztown University women's bowling team is favored to repeat its success from a season ago, as it was placed at the top of the East Coast Conference (ECC) Women's Bowling Preseason Poll, the conference announced Monday.
The Golden Bears (64-45 overall in 2024-25) had one of its most successful campaigns in program history a season ago, advancing in the NCAA postseason for the second time in program history and reaching the regional round of NCAA postseason competition for the first time in its current format (since 2021). The team swept all three individual ECC honors on its way to the conference championship victory, and two of those honorees – head coach Angela Reynolds and Rookie of the Year Kamryn Brenneman (York, Pa./Central York) – return to the lanes with the goal of replicating its success from a season ago.
While the Golden Bears lost an impactful senior class that featured both its leadoff and anchor bowlers, KU returns Brenneman and seniors Shelby Wunch (Easton, Md./Easton), Sydney Snyder (Morrisville, Pa./Conwell-Egan Catholic) and Madison Brenneman (York, Pa./Central York), who look to lead a new group of Kutztown keglers into the 2025-26 season.
At the end of last season, the National Tenpin Coaches Association gave Kutztown votes in the final overall polls, while the DII/DIII polls placed the Golden Bears as the eighth-best team among the non-Division I teams. KU's .590 win-loss percentage ranked 22nd in the nation, while its predetermined rating percentage index (RPI) mark of .533 placed them in a tie for No. 32 in the nation.
In the conference preseason polls, Kutztown is five votes ahead of second-place Bryant, who finished third at the ECC Championship a season ago. Rounding out the top five are reigning ECC Championship runners-up Roberts Wesleyan in third, Molloy in fourth, and Adelphi and Saint Anselm in a tie for fifth. Kutztown collected six first-place votes, while Bryant claimed a pair and Roberts Wesleyan snagged the remaining vote.
The Golden Bears open its season at the Bud Whitman Memorial Tournament on October 11-12, followed by the home Golden Bear Invite at Berks Lanes in Sinking Spring, Pa., on November 1-2. The ECC Championship Tournament is set to take place on March 20-22, following the conclusion of the team's nine-event NCAA schedule and lone United States Bowling Congress (USBC) event.
2025 ECC Women's Bowling Preseason Poll
1. Kutztown - 77 points (6 first-place votes)
2. Bryant - 72 points (2 first-place votes)
3. Roberts Wesleyan - 60 points (1 first-place vote)
4. Molloy - 54 points
T-5. Adelphi - 35 points
T-5. Saint Anselm - 35 points
7. D'Youville - 29 points
8. Daemen - 28 points
9. Saint Thomas Aquinas - 15 points
2025 ECC Preseason Player of the Year
Laura Clark, Sr., Bryant University
