KETTERING/BEAVERCREEK, Ohio – Aided by an electrifying performance by sophomore Sarah Benedict that included a perfect 300 game, the Falcon women bowlers captured their second tournament championship of the season at the Roto Grip Raider Classic on November 13 and 14. The NDC varsity men's team finished in fourth place, while Notre Dame's junior varsity squads finished second and sixth.  The women's competition was held at Poelking Woodman Lanes in Kettering, Ohio, while the men bowled at Beaver-Vu Bowl in Beavercreek, Ohio.

Benedict's perfect score, the first of her career, came at the end of Saturday's block of five team games and capped off an afternoon in which she opened with a 233 game and totaled 1,118 pins to average 223, placing her second among the 142 women who competed in the tournament. It marked the second consecutive All-Tournament Team berth for Benedict, who also earned the honor at an Ohio Bowling Conference tournament on October 23. 

The previous 300 game in school history was authored by current junior Romeo Patrick-Holmes at the Warhawk Open on March 13. There has also been another NDC perfect game at the Raider Classic: five Falcon women combined for a Baker 300 score in the 2017 championship match against host school Wright State University.

With 25 teams from 21 schools competing in the women's division this year, Notre Dame placed five bowlers among the top 35. Benedict was joined in that group by fifth year senior Lauren Alexander (15th, 198 average), freshman Rachel Foreback (23rd, 194 average), sophomore Hannah Klein (31st, 190 average), and senior Allyia Nicol (35th, 187 average). Foreback and Klein each posted a 247 score. The team's final four-game Baker set of 815 held off a late charge by Marian University (Indiana), who had trimmed the Falcons' lead from 160 to 22 pins in the previous set. The varsity women matched their total of tournament wins from each of the past two years, having earlier won the October 23 Ohio Bowling Conference meet. 

Led by freshman Matthew Angell's 252, the Falcon men opened Saturday's round with a team total of 1,144 to take an early lead. Angell added a 258 score on his way to tying Benedict with 1,118 for five games and finishing sixth among 250 competitors in the men's division.  Senior Reginald Petty was seventh with a total of 1,110 that included a high score of 248. At the end of Saturday, NDC was one of five schools within 44 pins of first place.  Despite opening Sunday's round of 16 Baker games with a 257 game and adding a 265 score in game 14, the Falcons ultimately finished fourth. The men's varsity division was won by Tennessee Wesleyan College.

The Falcon junior varsity men blasted a score of 1,135, the highest team total in the JV division. Sophomore Connor Gallagher led the charge with a 278 game that helped him earn a berth on the men's junior varsity All-Tournament Team.  He was 17th overall in the men's division, totaling 1,084 for a 216 average. Also bowling with the JV squad, junior Dezman Wade averaged 201. The Falcons finished in sixth place as the men's JV division was won by the University of Pikeville.

Notre Dame's junior varsity women, who were on a winning streak after championships in the Ohio Bowling Conference tournament on October 23 and the Buckeye Baker Classic on November 6 and 7, finished second to Thomas More University at the Raider Classic. Sophomore Kayla Beckley and freshman Ryley Cecil each made their third consecutive JV All-Tournament Team appearance, finishing third and fifth in the division, respectively, while freshman Olivia Brace was seventh. 

The Falcons will return to the lanes at the Warhawk Open in Addison, Ill., on Dec. 4 and 5.