BEAVER TOWNSHIP – Prior to this season, the Youngstown State women’s bowling team advanced to consecutive Elite 8 appearances at the NCAA Division I national bowling championships.

That is where their dream of a national championship came to a screeching halt.

After placing third nationally this past season and with all but one player returning next year, a national title isn’t such an unrealistic goal.

“It was a great run this year, and I think a lot of it was a continuation of last year,” head coach Doug Kuberski told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s meeting at Avion Banquet Center. “We were all excited about last year but also disappointed at how we just missed the final four going to the last match so we must put that same energy into next year.

“Coming up short of advancing to the Final Four those two seasons, then making the Final Four and finishing third overall, we must find a way to get over that next hump. We are hungry to get back to work pretty quickly and get after it, not taking too much time off.”

For his efforts, Kuberski was named the Bill Straub Division I National Coach of the Year while Jade Cote earned first-team All-America honors, and teammates Madyson Marx and Kirsten Moore were accorded second-team laurels.

“All three women, Jade, Madyson and Kirsten, have done a great job,” Kuberski added. “When they were freshmen and sophomores they didn’t play consistently but they developed, they grew and the last couple of years they stepped up. It was really great to see them elevate in their leadership positions across the board. All three women return with Kirsten and Madyson utilizing their Covid years.”

Depth wasn’t an issue this year and it should be less of an issue next season.

“We lose only Megan Grams, a fifth-year player but we are adding Kara Beissel from Ormond, Florida,” Kuberski stated. “She will be our only freshman but it’s a unique situation with all the Covid seniors the last couple of years. We will have a very experienced roster with six seniors returning next year.”

In addition to Marx and Moore, the other four senior returnees include Cote, Madison Doseck, Ellie Drescher and Lyndsay Ennis.

According to Kuberski, utilizing his entire roster allowed his squad to make their deepest tournament run in program history.

“I really think it was the elevation and our togetherness across the board,” he noted. “If you can imagine being together, like we have all been with so many juniors and seniors, it just helped us to have that experience together, getting to know each other, challenging each other more. When you get comfortable with one another over the course of the year, you are able to challenge each other more effectively and that helps you pinpoint the little details.

“At the national championship, we rotated quite a bit and pretty much used everybody in the final four. It’s one of our challenges but also one of our strengths, how to navigate having such a deep roster because you have everyone who can come in and perform at such a high level, an All-American level at any time.

“It really makes it a challenge for me to figure out who to play at the right time but it is a great asset to have and I am very blessed to have such a deep, experienced roster.”

Doseck and Ennis joined Kuberski at the meeting, noting team chemistry and togetherness were a common theme all season long.

“It was an amazing finish to the season and that was due to our team chemistry,” said Doseck, who hails from Farnham, Quebec, Canada. “The goal now is to win it all so it is back to work for all of us.”

Ennis is from Conway, South Carolina, and added they didn’t worry what others were doing and just remained focused on the task at hand.

“We didn’t focus on what anyone else did, we just stayed in our bubble and had a strong sense of togetherness,” she added. “We will celebrate this success, see what we could have done better or differently, take notes and capitalize on that moving forward.”

Kuberski also evaluates himself at the end of each season.

“We’ll pretty much do the things we always do, go through our notes and I want to go through my notes because for me, I evaluate myself as a coach every off-season right about this time each May,” he stated. “I go through my notes so that I can do better as a coach to lead this program and lead each individual so we can all be better and I know they are doing the same thing.

“We are all trying to figure out how we can be better individually, collectively and we get right to work on it. We definitely wanted to have a little bit of a celebration for our season but that is pretty much over so now it is how can we elevate and get better.”

Next week, Melissa Jackson, Youngstown State’s newly appointed head women’s basketball coach, will serve as guest speaker.

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