Restrepo leads opening round of PWBA Las Vegas Open

Qualifying Results: Round 1 | Round 2

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. -
Fresh off a Masters gold medal at the Pan American Bowling Confederation Champion of Champions event, Rocio Restrepo of Louisville, Ohio, put together another strong performance Saturday as she led qualifying at the Professional Women's Bowling Association Las Vegas Open.

Restrepo, a member of Team Colombia, averaged more than 226 to lead the opening event of 2016 PWBA season with a 2,718 total for 12 games at Texas Station.

Mexico's Sandra Gongora is second with 2,698, while Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio (2,679), Singapore's Hui Fen New (2,634) and reigning PWBA Player of the Year Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, New York (2,631), round out the top five.

The top 32 players in qualifying Saturday advanced to Sunday's cashers' round, which begins at 11 a.m. Eastern. Competition will conclude Sunday with a group stepladder final starting at 8 p.m. Eastern. All rounds leading up to the stepladder finals are being broadcast live on Xtra Frame.

"Last year in Sacramento, I bowled really well to start the season, so it feels really good to do it again," said Restrepo, who finished fourth at the 2015 PWBA Storm Sacramento Open. "There are a lot of games left tomorrow, but I feel like I have good ball reaction. I'm going to be positive, stay in the moment and enjoy every shot."

The final spot in Sunday's cashers' round went to 2015 PWBA Storm Sacramento Open champion Elysia Current of Ephrata, Pennsylvania. Current earned the final spot with a 2,415 total, a 201.25 average.

Six additional games in Sunday's cashers' round will determine the top 12 players to advance to round-robin match play. The match-play finalists will be split into two groups, each featuring six players. Each group will bowl six games of match play, including a final position round.

At the end of the match play, the top qualifier in each group will earn an automatic spot in the stepladder finals, with seeding being determined by total pins. The second, third and fourth qualifiers in each group will advance to a group stepladder final. The winner of each group stepladder final will advance to the televised stepladder finals.

The finals of the PWBA Las Vegas Open will air Tuesday, June 7 on CBS Sports Network.

For more information on the PWBA, visit PWBA.com. To subscribe to watch the action on Xtra Frame, visit XtraFrame.TV.