Girls Bowling: Andrew brings depth, experience to lanes

Updated: November 14, 2011 7:10PM

For many of the state’s top bowling teams, the formula for success is the same: rely on a couple of stud bowlers to put up huge scores and pair them with less talented, but steady, role players.

Andrew’s girls squad does not follow this method.

On the contrary, the Thunderbolts are all about depth, with their No. 5 bowler just as capable of leading the team as their No. 1.

“It’s very unusual to have all five bowlers as strong as they are,” Andrew coach Julie DeChene said. “I’m really excited about that. They’re just all really solid.”

The Thunderbolts go six bowlers deep, led by seniors Ashley Stefanski and Jenny Hallas and juniors Nicole Zopf and Cassie Boat. Junior Stephanie Garuckas and sophomore Ashley Sparrey also will be counted on, with Sparrey beginning the year on the frosh-soph squad but expected to join the varsity team for tournaments.

Just about all of those six had their turn leading the team last season. For most of the year, it was Zopf and Stefanski. Hallas had her moments in some big matches.

In the state tournament, however, Boat and Sparrey showed what they could do, posting the top two scores on the team as Andrew finished 14th.

“Last year, they all did a really good job helping each other out,” DeChene said. “They did a good job bonding, and I think having that group back together with no one new in it will help a lot.”

If “deep” is the best adjective to describe the Thunderbolts, “motivated” might be the runner-up.

The top 12 teams advance to the second day of the state tournament, and after five of six games on Day 1 last year, Andrew was in good shape to make the cut.

A disastrous 770 score in Game 6 — which followed a 1,041 in Game 5 — dropped the team to 14th, however.

“We lost focus in that last game,” DeChene said. “This year we’ve been working a lot on the mental game. We’ve been working on goal-setting and having a strong pre-shot routine and I want them to focus on each shot.”

Stefanski, the team’s anchor, sees last year’s near-miss as a good learning experience.

“That’s a thing of the past and we’re just working to improve,” she said. “I think being in that high-pressure experience last year can only help us. Just getting to state last year was a big confidence boost. We know what we’re capable of.”

When asked for her goals this season, Stefanski doesn’t harp on any numbers.

“I just want to be able to be friends with everybody and want to represent our school in a positive way,” she said. “We’ve been working a lot on building team unity. We’ve not only worked on our games, we’ve worked on relationships.”

The Thunderbolts are hoping to ride their team concept and their depth to new heights.

“We want a chance to get to state and make the top 10,” DeChene said. “Missing the second day with that last game really hurt. I think these girls really want it this year.”

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