McCarthy leads qualifying at 2019 PWBA Fountain Valley Open

STANDINGS

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif.
- Erin McCarthy of Omaha, Nebraska, delivered a steady performance throughout 16 games Friday to lead qualifying at the 2019 Professional Women's Bowling Association Fountain Valley Open.

The 2018 PWBA Louisville Open champion jumped from fourth place to the top of the leaderboard at Fountain Bowl after finishing with a 3,461 total, a 216.31 average.

McCarthy edged Sweden's Sandra Andersson (3,456) for the top spot by five pins.

McCarthy was a little concerned heading into this week's event, due to the 37-foot oil pattern being used throughout competition, but she was able to manage the early part of each block before the lanes opened up toward her strengths.

"Shorter patterns usually aren't my strong suit," McCarthy said. "I had a game plan, though, and used urethane for the first three games of each block to keep myself out of trouble. When the lanes actually opened up for me, I think my ball speed and rev rate allowed me to play parts of the lanes that other people weren't able to play."

Bryanna Coté of Red Rock, Arizona, is third with 3,445, opening-round leader Missy Parkin of Laguna Hills, California, is fourth with 3,439 and Ashly Galante of Palm Harbor, Florida, is fifth with 3,431.

Defending champion Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York, qualified in 17th place with a 3,288 total. She started the second round in 37th place.

The top 32 players from the 82-player field advanced to the next round, which starts Saturday at noon Eastern. The final player to advance to the Round of 32 was Japan's Nachimi Itakura, who finished with a 3,200 total, a 200 average.

The top 32 players will bowl eight more games Saturday to determine who advances to the Round of 12, which starts at 5 p.m. Eastern. After six additional games, the top four players based on total pinfall will advance to the stepladder finals.

The stepladder finals will take place at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday. BowlTV.com will livestream all the action on Saturday, including the stepladder finals.