July 27, 2024 Nolan Hughes

First-time partners Dallas Leong and Maranda Pattison led C-squad of the Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles, commonly known as the Luci.

Leong shot 1,550 for his seven individual games at Copperfield Bowl in Houston, while the PWBA Tour rookie Pattison added 1,478, combining for a 3,029 (+228) total pinfall. They sit in seventh place overall.

Alec Keplinger and Juliana Botero remain in first place at +405.

After a massive Game 2 — a combined 547 bolstered by Pattison’s front-10 289 — the duo jumped to the top of the squad. But their scoring pace slowed as the round progressed and Leong described the team's emotions afterwards as “a sense of relief.”

“We saw the scores from A-squad and B-squad and we didn’t know if we were in a gunfight or just needed to be patient and make some spares,” Leong said. “She got off to a really hot start. I just tried to play catch up. We got to the clubhouse and that’s all the matters. It got tough there at the end and I think the lanes just got tough for everybody.”

“Getting off to the great start loosened our swings,” Pattison added. “We made good decisions and weren’t pressing at all.”

Scores across the board on C-squad were lower compared to Friday’s B-squad. Leong theorized the trickier lane conditions could have been caused by rainy weather because “the humidity and that temperature drop makes the oil a little slicker," he said.

D-squad will be hoping the rain in Houston subsides as they close out qualifying with their seven games at 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. local).

The top 40 teams after Saturday’s competition will advance to Sunday’s semifinals. With three of four squads in the books, Keven Williams and Sydney Brummett (+76) are in 40th place.

In 30th place are Casey Cohagan and Marissa Allison (+114). They qualified in a tie for 40th place last year before losing a roll-off for the final berth in the semifinals.

Leaders Through C-Squad

  1. Alec Keplinger and Juliana Botero, 3,205 (+405)
  2. Andrew Anderson and Erin McCarthy, 3,160 (+360)
  3. Sean Riccardi and Karsyn Lukosius, 3,142 (+342)
  4. Kris Prather and Hope Gramly, 3,128 (+328)
  5. François Lavoie and Crystal Elliott, 3,046 (+246)
  6. Anthony Simonsen and Danielle McEwan, 3,039 (+239)
  7. Dallas Leong and Maranda Pattison, 3,028 (+228)
  8. Kyle Bigelow and Natalie Tackett, 3,008 (+208)
  9. Matt Kuba and Ashly Galante, 3,005 (+205)
  10. Kendle Miles and Giselle Poss, 2,999 (+199)

Full standings are available here.

Tournament Schedule

Copperfield Bowl | Houston, Texas

All times listed in Eastern

Saturday, July 27
3 p.m. — D-squad qualifying (seven games)
Top-fourth of field advances
9 p.m. — Pro-Am

Sunday, July 28
9 a.m. — Semifinals (four games)
Top 12 teams advance to round robin match play
12:30 p.m. — Match Play Round 1 (six games, round robin)
4:30 p.m. — Match Play Round 1 (six games, round robin)
Highest total pinfall wins

More information on the Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles is available here.