The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg Department of Athletics is pleased to announce that Amanda Balas has been named the head coach of the newly formed women's bowling team.
The bowling program will play an independent schedule during the 2020-21 season and will be a full member of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference and become eligible for postseason play starting with the 2021-22 academic year. A typical women's bowling regular-season runs from October through March, with the national championship event held in April.
The women's bowling team will be the 13th sport and seventh women's sport offered by Pitt-Greensburg. Pitt-Greensburg will be the 11th school in the AMCC to offer women's bowling as a collegiate sport, joining D'Youville, Hilbert, La Roche, Mt. Aloysius, Medaille, New Jersey City, Pitt-Bradford, Penn State Altoona, Penn State Behrend, and St. Vincent.
Balas joins Pitt-Greensburg after a stellar career at St. Francis University, which competes at the Division I level and is a member of the Northeast Conference. A two-time NEC Bowler of the Week, Balas made an immediate impact to the Red Flash lineup, earning NEC Rookie of the Week Honors in 2017 and was selected to the All-Rookie Team at the conclusion of the season.
Prior to St. Francis, Balas was a standout bowler at nearby Penn-Trafford High School, where she captured the 2014 Pennsylvania High School Individual State Championship and had runner up finishes in both 2013 & 2016.
Balas graduated with her Bachelor's Degree in Accounting in 2018 and is expected to complete her Master's Degree in Business Administration in May, 2020.
Women's Bowling became an NCAA sanctioned sport in 2004 and unlike most sports where championships are split between Division I, II, and II, all three bowling divisions compete against each other and culminate in a Championship event, which is held every year in April. Twelve teams are selected by the NCAA Bowling Committee to compete in the Championship. Eight teams earn automatic qualifications with the other four teams earning at-large bids.
In total there are 87 schools across all three divisions that sponsor women's bowling as a collegiate sport. At the high school level, 150 schools in Pennsylvania compete in women's bowling, with the largest amount of schools (39) competing in the WPIAL.