WAUKESHA, Wis.—The Carroll University women's bowling team will head to the program's first-ever CCIW Women's Bowling Championship Tournament this Saturday and Sunday, March 26-27 at Mardi Gras Lanes in DeKalb, IL. The Pioneers qualified for the event after finishing the two CCIW competitions with a 10-6 record.
 
The Pioneers, the four seed in the tournament, will start the weekend with a match against no. one-seeded Marian at 9 am on Saturday. The format of the bracket is double-elimination, and each match follows the NCAA's Mega Match format. "We're super excited to be in the conference championship as a first-year program," says Head Women's Bowling Coach Courtney Ermisch. "Seeing Success in the conference this early is a good building block for the program."
 
Winners will be determined by using a best-of-three match format in the following order: five-person team match, Baker total pinfall, and a best-of-seven Baker match play. Further, the match will be played on the same pair of lanes with normal rules applying. Each individual format must be played until a winner is determined utilizing the modified Baker roll-off to break ties. Teams will not participate in more than two Mega Matches in one day. During postseason tournaments, where an as-needed match is necessary after two Mega Matches in the same day, it shall be resolved by a best-of-seven Baker match. "This weekend's format is different than most tournaments, so I am looking forward to a new challenge!" says CCIW first-team all-conference selection Emma Pfaffl when asked about how she's feeling before the tournament. "I know that every team that has made it this far is filled with talent, but I am very excited to see what we will do after all the preparation we have put in over the past year."
 
This season against Marian, the Pioneers are 1-1 in baker matches, with an average of 882.5 total pinfall against the Sabres, and are 0-2 in traditional five-person team matches with an average score of 829. Carroll is averaging scores of 824.66 in traditional matches, and 838.76 in baker matches this season.
 
Event coverage of the 2022 CCIW Women's Bowling Tournament will be linked at gopios.com/wbowling. The CCIW will be live streaming matches from its Facebook page throughout the tournament. After the 9 matches, the Pioneers will either play the winner or loser of no. two Aurora or no. three Carthage at approximately 1:30 PM.