Zavala wins PWBA Cleveland Open title, gifting herself a title on her birthday
May 30, 2025
PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio – Stephanie Zavala of Long Beach, California, celebrated her 29th birthday in the best way possible: winning her sixth career title at the 2025 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Cleveland Open at Yorktown Lanes in Parma Heights, Ohio.
This is Zavala’s second win at Yorktown Lanes after winning the 2021 PWBA Greater Cleveland Open in the same building, although this one is much sweeter after defeating Olivia Komorowski of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in the title match, 207-173
“It feels amazing,” said Zavala. “It feels like another dream off the wish list has come true.”
She had a slow start to match play, going 4-4 in the first round and sitting on the cut line for the stepladder, but came back in Round 2 with seven wins and only one loss to clinch the top seed for the finals.
Standing in the way of the birthday title was Komorowski, making her first stepladder appearance on the PWBA Tour in her second season after a successful collegiate career at Wichita State.
Komorowski held the early advantage against Zavala, who opened to start the match and then added a second open in the fifth frame that could have allowed Komorowski to stay ahead. The Wisconsin bowler had her own open in the fifth frame, however, and Zavala pounced on the opportunity.
Zavala had six strikes in the final seven shots to pull away with 207, denying Komorowski her first title and winning the $10,000 top prize. Komorowski earned $5,000 for her runner-up finish.
For Zavala, her quest to the title started with throwing plastic before the first match of the stepladder, allowing her to create hold and stay in her A-game.
“In order to play to my strengths, I needed the pattern to stretch a little bit,” said Zavala. “Games 1 and 2 (during match play) out of the gate were lower than the others, so it allowed me to get left and really hit on the ball.”
The left lane on the TV pair became tricky throughout the finals, which is why Zavala opted to start there and end on the right lane favored her, eventually throwing seven strikes on that right lane in her one match.
“After my entire practice session I got, I knew that right lane was going to heavily favor me and I told myself I knew exactly what was happening on that (right) lane and just grind it out on the left lane.”
Grinding games out is exactly what happened throughout the finals, which started with Ukraine’s Dasha Kovalova and Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey. Kovalova had full control of the match as Kulick had five opens in the match for 147, while Kovalova advanced with a 193. Kulick earned $3,000 for her fifth-place finish.
Next up for Kovalova was Crystal Elliott of Palm Bay, Florida, the 2024 PWBA Rookie of the Year. This is where the trickiness of the lanes began to rear its head for the competitors, as both Elliott and Kovalova had to make ball changes to combat the changing lanes.
Neither bowler was able to pull ahead until a turkey for Kovalova in frames seven through nine put the Ukrainian bowler up for good, eventually ending with 216 to Elliott’s 189. Elliott earned $3,500 for fourth place.
Next up for Kovalova was Komorowski in a semifinal matchup between Wichita State alums. Early opens for them kept the match close until Komorowski had a turkey of her own in frames six through eight to shut out Kovalova, ending her climb up the ladder, 195-166, to advance to the title match against Zavala.
The second event of the Summer Series, the PWBA BowlTV Open, begins tomorrow with a slightly modified format as the Cleveland Open, with qualifying rounds at 10 a.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Eastern before the top 12 advance to match play on Saturday at 9 a.m. Eastern and the stepladder finals that night at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
The Summer Series will end with the PWBA Rock ‘n’ Roll Open, where after two rounds of qualifying on Monday at 10 a.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Eastern, the top 16 advance to the single-elimination match-play bracket on Tuesday beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern. Matches will be best-of-five until the final four remain, where the semifinals and finals will be one-game matches.
For more information on the PWBA Summer Series, visit https://pwba.com/national-tour/pwba-summer-series-cleveland.
This is Zavala’s second win at Yorktown Lanes after winning the 2021 PWBA Greater Cleveland Open in the same building, although this one is much sweeter after defeating Olivia Komorowski of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in the title match, 207-173
“It feels amazing,” said Zavala. “It feels like another dream off the wish list has come true.”
She had a slow start to match play, going 4-4 in the first round and sitting on the cut line for the stepladder, but came back in Round 2 with seven wins and only one loss to clinch the top seed for the finals.
Standing in the way of the birthday title was Komorowski, making her first stepladder appearance on the PWBA Tour in her second season after a successful collegiate career at Wichita State.
Komorowski held the early advantage against Zavala, who opened to start the match and then added a second open in the fifth frame that could have allowed Komorowski to stay ahead. The Wisconsin bowler had her own open in the fifth frame, however, and Zavala pounced on the opportunity.
Zavala had six strikes in the final seven shots to pull away with 207, denying Komorowski her first title and winning the $10,000 top prize. Komorowski earned $5,000 for her runner-up finish.
For Zavala, her quest to the title started with throwing plastic before the first match of the stepladder, allowing her to create hold and stay in her A-game.
“In order to play to my strengths, I needed the pattern to stretch a little bit,” said Zavala. “Games 1 and 2 (during match play) out of the gate were lower than the others, so it allowed me to get left and really hit on the ball.”
The left lane on the TV pair became tricky throughout the finals, which is why Zavala opted to start there and end on the right lane favored her, eventually throwing seven strikes on that right lane in her one match.
“After my entire practice session I got, I knew that right lane was going to heavily favor me and I told myself I knew exactly what was happening on that (right) lane and just grind it out on the left lane.”
Grinding games out is exactly what happened throughout the finals, which started with Ukraine’s Dasha Kovalova and Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey. Kovalova had full control of the match as Kulick had five opens in the match for 147, while Kovalova advanced with a 193. Kulick earned $3,000 for her fifth-place finish.
Next up for Kovalova was Crystal Elliott of Palm Bay, Florida, the 2024 PWBA Rookie of the Year. This is where the trickiness of the lanes began to rear its head for the competitors, as both Elliott and Kovalova had to make ball changes to combat the changing lanes.
Neither bowler was able to pull ahead until a turkey for Kovalova in frames seven through nine put the Ukrainian bowler up for good, eventually ending with 216 to Elliott’s 189. Elliott earned $3,500 for fourth place.
Next up for Kovalova was Komorowski in a semifinal matchup between Wichita State alums. Early opens for them kept the match close until Komorowski had a turkey of her own in frames six through eight to shut out Kovalova, ending her climb up the ladder, 195-166, to advance to the title match against Zavala.
The second event of the Summer Series, the PWBA BowlTV Open, begins tomorrow with a slightly modified format as the Cleveland Open, with qualifying rounds at 10 a.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Eastern before the top 12 advance to match play on Saturday at 9 a.m. Eastern and the stepladder finals that night at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
The Summer Series will end with the PWBA Rock ‘n’ Roll Open, where after two rounds of qualifying on Monday at 10 a.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Eastern, the top 16 advance to the single-elimination match-play bracket on Tuesday beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern. Matches will be best-of-five until the final four remain, where the semifinals and finals will be one-game matches.
For more information on the PWBA Summer Series, visit https://pwba.com/national-tour/pwba-summer-series-cleveland.