Vanderbilt earns victory at 2025 Prairie View A&M Invitational
January 26, 2025
ARLINGTON, Texas – Vanderbilt recorded its third win at the Prairie View A&M Invitational at the International Training and Research Center on Sunday, claiming the top spot at the 2025 event with a sweep of defending champion Jacksonville State, 4-0.
The Commadores – champions at the inaugural event in 2012 and 2023 – started the title match with a 10-strike performance on the way to a 246-203 win. Vanderbilt closed the game with seven strikes after an open in the fifth frame.
In Game 2, Vanderbilt stayed clean and took advantage of opens by Jacksonville State in the fourth and sixth frames to post a 228-201 win.
A string of five strikes – starting in the fourth frame – allowed the Commadores to brush off an early open in Game 3. Vanderbilt collected its third win of the title tilt by the score of 211-209.
Vanderbilt closed the sweep in the Baker finals with four strikes to earn the title, 224-196.
The team competing at the ITRC for Vanderbilt featured Isabel Allen, Alyssa Ballard, Sydney Bohn, Kailee Channell, Kaylee Hitt, Natalie Kent, Haley Lindley, Saphyre Nofuente and Victoria Varano.
The Commadores qualified as the No. 3 seed and advanced to the championship round with a 4-1 victory over No. 2 Sam Houston State. Jacksonville State was the top qualifier in 2025 and advanced to the finals with a 4-2 win over No. 4 North Carolina A&T.
North Carolina A&T finished the week in third place after defeating Sam Houston State (4-1) in the final round.
The 2025 event featured 12 teams competing this week at the ITRC. The event kicked off Friday with five five-game Baker matches, while six traditional games were contested Saturday and Sunday to conclude qualifying. Total pinfall determined seeding for Sunday’s match-play bracket.
Jacksonville State (11,852) edged Sam Houston State (11,821) and Vanderbilt (11,812) for the top seed. North Carolina A&T earned the final spot in the top four with 11,753.
The bracket was broken into three sub-brackets, based on seeding. The top four qualifiers competed in the main bracket and had the opportunity to secure the title. The teams that placed from fifth to eighth in qualifying were in the second bracket, and the programs ranked from ninth to 12th competed in the third bracket.
All rounds of the 2025 Prairie View A&M Invitational were broadcast live at BowlTV.com.
The traditional block across Saturday and Sunday also helped to determine the top individual performers at the ITRC.
Vanderbilt’s Allen averaged 240 for her six games to lead the field with a 1,440 total. North Carolina A&T’s Maya Avilez was second with 1,408. Sam Houston State’s Denise Blankenzee (1,395), North Carolina A&T’s Jasmine Hall (1,381) and Jacksonville State’s Anna Warkel (1,368) also placed in the top five.
The 2025 Prairie View A&M Invitational featured eight teams ranked in the top 10 from the most recent National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Coaches Poll (Dec. 5, 2024).
Previous Prairie View A&M Invitational champions:
2012 – Vanderbilt
2013 – Nebraska
2014 – Nebraska
2015 – Nebraska
2016 – Nebraska
2017 – Nebraska
2018 – McKendree
2019 – Arkansas State
2020 – McKendree
2021 – McKendree (held at USA Bowl in Dallas)
2022 – Sam Houston State
2023 – Vanderbilt
2024 – Jacksonville State
2025 – Vanderbilt
The Commadores – champions at the inaugural event in 2012 and 2023 – started the title match with a 10-strike performance on the way to a 246-203 win. Vanderbilt closed the game with seven strikes after an open in the fifth frame.
In Game 2, Vanderbilt stayed clean and took advantage of opens by Jacksonville State in the fourth and sixth frames to post a 228-201 win.
A string of five strikes – starting in the fourth frame – allowed the Commadores to brush off an early open in Game 3. Vanderbilt collected its third win of the title tilt by the score of 211-209.
Vanderbilt closed the sweep in the Baker finals with four strikes to earn the title, 224-196.
The team competing at the ITRC for Vanderbilt featured Isabel Allen, Alyssa Ballard, Sydney Bohn, Kailee Channell, Kaylee Hitt, Natalie Kent, Haley Lindley, Saphyre Nofuente and Victoria Varano.
The Commadores qualified as the No. 3 seed and advanced to the championship round with a 4-1 victory over No. 2 Sam Houston State. Jacksonville State was the top qualifier in 2025 and advanced to the finals with a 4-2 win over No. 4 North Carolina A&T.
North Carolina A&T finished the week in third place after defeating Sam Houston State (4-1) in the final round.
The 2025 event featured 12 teams competing this week at the ITRC. The event kicked off Friday with five five-game Baker matches, while six traditional games were contested Saturday and Sunday to conclude qualifying. Total pinfall determined seeding for Sunday’s match-play bracket.
Jacksonville State (11,852) edged Sam Houston State (11,821) and Vanderbilt (11,812) for the top seed. North Carolina A&T earned the final spot in the top four with 11,753.
The bracket was broken into three sub-brackets, based on seeding. The top four qualifiers competed in the main bracket and had the opportunity to secure the title. The teams that placed from fifth to eighth in qualifying were in the second bracket, and the programs ranked from ninth to 12th competed in the third bracket.
All rounds of the 2025 Prairie View A&M Invitational were broadcast live at BowlTV.com.
The traditional block across Saturday and Sunday also helped to determine the top individual performers at the ITRC.
Vanderbilt’s Allen averaged 240 for her six games to lead the field with a 1,440 total. North Carolina A&T’s Maya Avilez was second with 1,408. Sam Houston State’s Denise Blankenzee (1,395), North Carolina A&T’s Jasmine Hall (1,381) and Jacksonville State’s Anna Warkel (1,368) also placed in the top five.
The 2025 Prairie View A&M Invitational featured eight teams ranked in the top 10 from the most recent National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Coaches Poll (Dec. 5, 2024).
Previous Prairie View A&M Invitational champions:
2012 – Vanderbilt
2013 – Nebraska
2014 – Nebraska
2015 – Nebraska
2016 – Nebraska
2017 – Nebraska
2018 – McKendree
2019 – Arkansas State
2020 – McKendree
2021 – McKendree (held at USA Bowl in Dallas)
2022 – Sam Houston State
2023 – Vanderbilt
2024 – Jacksonville State
2025 – Vanderbilt