For the second consecutive year and the third time in program history, the Youngstown State women's bowling team is headed to the NCAA National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship Final Four.

The Penguins secured their spot in the national semifinals by winning the Rochester Regional on Saturday at Bowl-A-Roll.

 Youngstown State, the tournament's No. 3 overall seed, will travel to Las Vegas next week to compete at the Suncoast Bowling Center against the other top seeds from the four regional sites. Their journey will continue with a semifinal matchup against second-seeded Nebraska on Friday. Jacksonville State and Wichita State will compete in the other semifinal.

To advance to Las Vegas, Youngstown State had to overcome a challenging battle against North Carolina A&T for the second straight day. On Friday, the Penguins advanced to the regional final with a 2-1 mega-match victory over the Aggies. The two teams then engaged in a nearly five-hour contest on Saturday.

North Carolina A&T took the traditional point 1,058-969, mirroring Friday's mega-match. However, Youngstown State responded with a strong 1,087-1,024 victory in the Baker pinfall round to force a decisive best-of-seven series. YSU took an early 2-1 lead in that series, but the MEAC champions rallied to win the next three games and secure the point, resulting in a 2-1 match win.

Having only one loss in the double-elimination bracket, Youngstown State faced North Carolina A&T again in a winner-take-all, best-of-seven Baker match. Moving to lanes 11-12 after a brief intermission and warm-up, the Penguins took control and swept the match 4-0.

The starting lineup of Lyndsay Ennis, Amanda Granata, Kirsten Moore, Madyson Marx, and Jade Cote set the tone with a 221-195 victory in the opening game. Backed by a vocal contingent of supporters, the Penguins maintained their momentum throughout the match, winning by an average of 20.25 pins and holding a 15-pin advantage across all four games.

Youngstown State won the second game 193-178 and moved to the brink of victory with a 247 in the third. Despite trailing by 14 pins after five frames, the Aggies opened in the sixth, allowing Granata, Moore, Marx, and Cote to string together four consecutive strikes, effectively sealing the regional title. In the tenth frame of the final game, Cote struck on her first ball and then knocked down nine pins on her second, securing a 221 game and the regional championship.

For fifth-year seniors Marx and Moore, this will be their third trip to the Final Four. They previously competed in the national semifinals in North Kansas City during the 2020-21 COVID-19 season and again last year in Allen Park, Mich.