The Saint Francis University bowling team concluded the Red Flash Invitational on Sunday, with Duquesne claiming the top spot in the 10-team bracket and the Red Flash squad coming in fifth place on the final day of competition at the Holiday Bowl in Altoona, Pa.

The Red Flash (37-42, 9-5 NEC) hosted a successful home tournament for the 13th consecutive season, once again bringing in some of the top competition in the nation. The Frankies came up 1-2 in the best-of-seven baker competition on the third day after starting the day in 4th place, finishing the weekend-long tournament with a 6-7 record and a fifth-place finish.

HOW IT WENT DOWN
The Red Flash, who entered the day in fourth place after the qualifying rounds on the first two days, were given the final path to the championship as they could claim the honor by upsetting No. 8 Duquesne, No. 15 Mount St. Mary's and No. 19 Valparaiso, the three teams ahead of them.

Instead, the Red Flash were controlled in the first match by No. 19 Valparaiso after winning just once in the five games against the Beacons. While the starting lineup featured the three seniors and two sophomores, a last-ditch effort was made to salvage the match in the fifth game with three changes that had little effect on the end result.

The Red Flash fell again to Saint Vincent, a team that split their two meetings with the Red Flash on Saturday. The Bearcats ran away with the first two sets, but the Frankies climbed back in and claimed the next three games to push their opponents' backs against the wall. In a similar fashion to their first two wins, Saint Vincent took advantage of the Red Flash's errors and closed out Saint Francis in seven games to head to the bronze medal match.

Saint Francis looked to bounce back against Morgan State, a tall task given that the Golden Bears found their way to the fifth-place match after starting their day in sixth place. The Red Flash looked to tackle that momentum, and although a game four tie put the match in a stalemate, the Flash were able to gain momentum from there and go 2-1 to finish the match and claim fifth place in the final battle of the tournament.

Head coach Ashley Bingham once again looked to freshman Hayden Bennett to step up for the Red Flash, and similar to the second day of the tournament, the first-year bowler was able to deliver. The West Richland, Wash., native put up a strong performance against Saint Vincent, holding the leadoff spot and converting on six of seven chances from the first frame. She went on to fill 13 of her 14 frames in the win over Morgan State, including her final eight frames to secure the victory for Saint Francis.

MVP METCALFE
Marissa Metcalfe was named to the All-Tournament team after her performance in traditional play on the first day of competition. It is the first tournament honor for any Red Flash bowler this season and the first Saint Francis bowler to make the All-Tournament team at the home tournament since Kassidy Landwehr in 2021-22.

Shannon Small of tournament champion Duquesne claimed MVP honors of the Red Flash Invitational for the second consecutive season, while Metcalfe came in second in the individual standings.

SUNDAY'S SCORES
No. 19 Valparaiso 4, Saint Francis 1
Saint Vincent 4, Saint Francis 3
Saint Francis 4.5, Morgan State 2.5

FINAL RESULTS
4th place after qualifying rounds (8,915 pin total, 5-5 record)
5th place overall finish; 1-2 Sunday record
Marissa Metcalfe: All-Tournament Team, 2nd place individual standings

UP NEXT
The Saint Francis bowlers will get a week off to rest before hitting the road again to Mount Joy, Pa., where the 6th Annual Mount Shootout will take place. No. 15 Mount St. Mary's, who took home second place at this weekend's tournament, will host the tournament in southeastern Pennsylvania. Former Red Flash bowling graduate assistant Kenneth DeGraaf is the head coach of the Mountaineers, as he has served as the program's inaugural head coach since leaving Saint Francis.

FOLLOW US
The Mount Shootout, as well as most other tournaments, will be live-streamed on the team's Facebook page, and the latest updates will be posted on the team's Facebook and X pages.

For more information on the Red Flash, visit sfuathletics.com and follow RedFlashBowling on Facebook, Instagram, and X.