The girls bowling team finished last season undefeated and made a deep playoff run into the quarterfinals before losing to the eventual champion Tottenville.  This year they are poised to make it three consecutive undefeated seasons and return to the playoffs.

In addition to the difficult loss to Tottenville, their third in three consecutive playoffs matchups with that team, girls bowling has another loss to cope with. Half of last year’s team consisted of seniors who have since graduated. These losses “will be a major hurdle to overcome this season,” said Coach Maria Assante.

With this many players leaving the team, last year’s underclassmen will need to take bigger roles. Senior Morgan Wu qualified for the Individual Championships last year and senior Ritika Modi ranked fifteenth among all bowlers in highest score and twenty-ninth in average score last season. Both will be expected to continue to bowl well as will all other members of the team.

Even though the team is coming off of an undefeated regular season, there are still things they plan to improve on. “Picking up spares will be a major focus this season,” said Coach Assante. She also added “our team has to work on not losing their confidence even if they are behind.  If they stay strong and never quit, they have a great chance of beating the odds.”

The bowlers also agree that strengthening their mind will strengthen their game.  “I think we just need to doubt ourselves less and not be intimidated by the crowds of people that show up to our games in Staten Island [against Tottenville],” said Senior Mahwish Waseem.

Senior Ellen Huynh agreed that getting better is a matter of mental strength, saying, “I think we should always keep focus, and remind ourselves of all the techniques we have learned through our practices, and all of the advice given to us to improve ourselves.”

The girls will get their season rolling Tuesday, September 24th against Forest Hills at Jib Lanes.