ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Lady Hub varsity bowling team struggled to earn wins during the shortened 2020-21 season this past year, rostering only four players under then first-year head coach Eric Widick. With athletics and activities returning to normal, Widick saw the Lady Hubs make significant strides on the lanes during his second season at the helm, more than doubling their win total during the 2021-22 season.

“I was really pleased with how our season went this year,” Widick said. “We had a full year together and we put in a lot more work. I saw tremendous improvements from our girls and we had our ups and downs, but I thought we all worked together really well… We want to improve our finish in the conference next season and we want to build on what we accomplished this year. We need to keep working on our spares as well. What we told the girls is that when we’re not carrying our strikes, our spares are where we score.”

Rochelle finished with a 7-10 overall record and a 4-6 record in the Interstate 8 Conference this season. The Lady Hubs swept their conference series with both Kaneland and Morris before placing fourth at the Interstate 8 Conference tournament and seventh at the IHSA DeKalb Regional. Rochelle finished fifth at the LaSalle-Peru Cavalier Classic and scored three nonconference victories against Sterling, Lisle and Mendota.

The Lady Hubs will lose four seniors from the varsity team including two-time All-Conference Honorable Mention and IHSA Sectional qualifier Alyssa Mickley. Seniors Anna Samo, Carly Summers and Zoe Rourke will also depart from the roster, creating opportunities for the team’s younger players to earn varsity spots.  

“Carly really impressed me with our she took our newer bowlers under her wing and coached them up,” Widick said. “Alyssa brought a lot of experience with her and Anna was much like a team captain for us. She was really upbeat and helped bring our morale up a lot. I enjoyed working with our seniors a lot.”

Rochelle will have three key underclassmen eligible to return next season including All-Conference First Team bowler and IHSA Sectional qualifier Cassidy Vincent. Sophomore Faith Adams completed her second season on the varsity team, while junior Aarchi Sorathia and sophomore Anahi Alanis each earned varsity experience for the first time this winter. Freshman Anyssa Contreras bowled on the JV team this season.

“Cassidy came in with a skill set and I’m looking for her to step up and be a motivator for our girls next season,” Widick said. “Faith has really developed as a leader and she does a great job of keeping the girls focused. Our numbers will be down a little bit but I’m hoping we can bring in some new girls to the team next season.”