Schaumburg stays in command against MSL foes

All year long, Schaumburg's Mid-Suburban League rivals have been trying to knock the defending champs off their perch.

And all season the Saxons have been up to the challenge.

At Monday night's meet Schaumburg, which returned only one bowler (Jodi Gawlik) from last year's championship squad, defeated Rolling Meadows 7-2 to stay in first place heading into Saturday's MSL tourney. Schaumburg is 1 point ahead of second-place Elk Grove.

"It's a little nerve-wracking, that's for sure," said Gawlik, the MSL average leader. "But (the close race) just makes it more exciting."

The junior, who had nine straight strikes en route to a 267 in her first game Monday, said the Saxons have exceeded even their own expectations this year.

"Honestly, we've been a lot better than even I thought we'd be," said Gawlik. "Elk Grove is a very good team, but we've put ourselves in a position to win."

Elk Grove defeated Wheeling 9-0 behind games of 257 and 247 from Caerlina Williams, but Grens players and fans were still buzzing over the tremendous performance from Ashley Dolce at the Fenton Tournament the weekend before last.

The sophomore bowled a 300 game, the first ever at the Bison tourney and only the second 300 game from a woman at Wood Dale Bowl in 48 years.

"It was surreal," said Dolce, who achieved perfection in the fourth game of the 6 tournament games. "I don't think it even sank in until a couple of games later."

Elk Grove coach Kim Sander said that from the "third or fourth frame" she knew Dolce had a chance at history.

"The pins were falling in her favor," said Sander. "She was just on target the whole game - her approach, her follow through, everything was solid. It was a great day for her and a great day to be a coach."

Dolce said she was "very nervous" in the latter frames but maintained her composure, and felt a "wave of excitement" when the final pins fell.

"It was almost a huge relief," said Dolce. "I was just trying to take it one ball at a time and one strike at a time."

"She was so focused," added Sander. "The amount of concentration she had in that final few frames was just unbelievable."

In other action Monday, Prospect stayed in third place with a 5-4 win over Conant as Whitney Schmidt rolled a 633 series; Hoffman Estates defeated Fremd 9-0, Buffalo Grove (Molly Jackson, 605) blanked Barrington and Palatine won over Hersey 7-2.

The MSL championship will be decided Saturday at the tourney at AMF Lanes in Rolling Meadows.