La Crosse, Wis. – Viterbo University made history three years ago when they announced they were starting an intercollegiate men's and women's bowling program. Fast forward to this weekend, the V-Hawks will once again make history as they will host their first ever home tournament. Viterbo will host the first annual V-Hawk Invitational this Saturday and Sunday at Pla Mor Lanes.

"This is a very exciting time for our program and we are looking forward to hosting about a dozen teams from the Midwest," commented Head Coach Jim Socha. "Pla Mor Lanes is an excellent facility for us to host a tournament and we hope the La Crosse community will come check out what a collegiate bowling tournament is like. I really think fans will enjoy this event and see firsthand how bowling is rapidly growing."

Day one of the tournament will start at 12:30 pm on Saturday with the women's teams bowling first followed by the men's teams. They will bowl three individual games on Saturday and then bowl another two individual games on Sunday. They will then play 10 baker games and the top four teams (based on total team scores individual and baker) will advance to a bracket tournament. Sunday's action starts with the women bowling at 7:45 am and the men following at about 12:30 pm.

"Our competition field this weekend is pretty strong and it should be a lot of fun to see some high quality bowling," stated Coach Socha. "On the women's side we have played really well this year and I believe we should be right in the mix. On the men's side, we have been improving a lot and I also believe they should find themselves competing all the way to the end on Sunday."

The Lady V-Hawks are ranked 15^th in the latest United States Bowling Congress polls and will be the highest ranked team in the field this weekend. So far this season, the V-Hawks have been led by freshman Danielle Weyker (Plymouth, Wis.) and junior Rachel Schalow (Marshfield, Wis.). Weyker has averaged a 183.2 through 34 games while Schalow has averaged a 181.2 through 35 games. On the men's side, the V-Hawks have been led by sophomore TJ York (Norridgewock, Maine) and sophomore Chris Fish (West Salem, Wis.) through six tournaments. York is averaging a 192 and Fish is averaging a 191 so far this season.