Bunta, Williams help Elk Grove beat Schaumburg

Elk Grove senior Sarah Bunta and junior teammate Caerlina Williams came up big in the most anticipated match of the Mid-Suburban League bowling season.

Williams rolled a 279 game, the best in the MSL this year, while Bunta's 677 series including games of 248, 226 and 203 as the second-place Grenadiers overcame an early deficit to defeat league-leading Schaumburg 7-2.

In other action, Prospect stayed in third place with a 9-0 win over Wheeling, Hoffman Estates defeated Buffalo Grove 7-2, Fremd beat Hersey bt the same count while Conant scored a 9-0 win over Rolling Meadows.

"We just started striking," said Bunta, "one after another after another."

"Schaumburg is a very competitive team, and so are we. They pushed us to do our best."

The Grens, who moved to within 3 points of Schaumburg, had to overcome a tremendous effort from Saxons junior Jodi Gawlik

Gawlik, the MSL league leader in average, had games of 247, 226 and 225 enroute to a 698 series - but Williams stellar effort turned the match around in the second game.

After losing the first game to the Saxons, Williams knew something special was happening in Game 2 but tried not to focus on it.

"I didn't want to think about it," said Williams during her stellar 279 effort in Game 2.

"Every time a thought about it would come in my head, I would say to myself, 'uh-uh - no'. I just focused on having fun as a team."

"We've been pointing to this match since the beginning of the season, and losing the first game made us work even harder."

Prospect was led in its win by Holly Fields, who rolled a 231 game, and Nicole Steskal and Kelly Rosel, each of whom shot a 212.

"We've really gotten into the groove as a team," said Rosel, a senior.

Lisa Papeck bowled a 594 series in the Hawks win while BG's Molly Jackson did all she could, excelling with a 255 game.

Conant's Sam Pincenti finished with 617 series in the Cougars victory, while Fremd won behind strong efforts from siblings Gabby Burnitz (217 game, 574 series) and Kayleigh Burnitz (211 in the second game).

Kayleigh, a freshman, started the season on JV but quickly was moved up to join her sister on varsity.

"I was a little nervous," said Kayleigh about bowling with the upperclassmen. "I thought if I messed up, they'd be mad at me. But they've all been very supportive - they high-five me even when I miss.

"I've just been trying to focus on the basics, following through and hitting my mark."

Wheeling's Jenny Schmitt rolled a 591 series, Hersey's Amanda Hampe finished at 566, while Brittany Meyer of Rolling Meadows shot 550.

Ashley Dolce (606 series), Micaela Powell (192 game) and Tedra Tado (216) all contributed to the Grens' exhilarating win.

"This (the victory over Schaumburg) was one of our main goals," said Tado. "I'm glad we could win at least two of the games. I was a little nervous at the start, but I was able to pick it up and find my mark."