ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) has officially announced the eight-team field and seeding for the 2026 GLVC Women's Bowling Championship. Following a standout performance at the ITC Sectionals, the No. 24 Central Missouri Jennies have secured the No. 4 seed heading into the conference tournament.
The double-elimination championship begins Friday, March 20, at Bel-Air Bowl in Belleville, Illinois. UCM will take on Oklahoma Christian in the first round on Friday at 8:30 a.m.
The Jennies (RPI .552) enter the post-season with significant momentum after finishing as runners-up at the ITC Sectionals.
The Field
The tournament features a highly competitive field, led by top-seeded Maryville (MO), currently ranked No. 8 in the national RPI. The full seeding and RPI rankings are as follows:
1. #1 Maryville (MO) – 0.608 (RPI Rank: 8)
2. #2 Newman – 0.587 (RPI Rank: 12)
3. #3 McKendree – 0.578 (RPI Rank: 16)
4. #4 Central Missouri – 0.552 (RPI Rank: 27)
5. #5 Oklahoma Christian – 0.531 (RPI Rank: 32)
6. #6 Lewis – 0.497 (RPI Rank: 45)
7. #7 Quincy – 0.495 (RPI Rank: 46)
8. #8 UIndy – 0.459 (RPI Rank: 62)
Tournament Format
The three-day affair will feature a double-elimination, best-of-three format, including a five-person Traditional team match, followed by a Baker Total Pinfall and Baker Best-of-Seven Match play, if necessary, per contest. Four matches will be contested at 8:30 a.m. Central Time (CT) on Friday, followed by four more at 1:30 p.m. CT. Saturday features two matches in the morning before two matches that afternoon. There will be one match on Sunday morning before the title tilt takes place in the afternoon. Due to the double-elimination nature of the bracket, there may be a 15th match late Sunday afternoon, if necessary.
For spectators traveling to Belleville, attendance will be $15 for adults, $5 for students with ID and $5 youth aged 6-12th grade, while children 5 and under will be admitted for free. Tickets must be purchased in advance at GLVCsports.com/tickets, and no cash will be accepted on site.
Fans who cannot attend in person will be treated to over 20 hours of live coverage on GLVCSN, including video with audio commentary of lanes 13-14, along with video-only coverage of the secondary lanes on 5-6, 9-10, and 17-18. As tournament host, the GLVC, Maryville and McKendree will handle streaming efforts, including a combination of Evan Holmes and Mike Fleischman.
GLVCSN coverage of the Conference tournament can be seen on all GLVCSN platforms on a pay-per-view basis, including GLVCSN.com, GLVCSN iOS or Android mobile apps, and GLVCSN OTT apps on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV.
