Pittsburgh, Pa. – In a vote of Northeast Conference (NEC) head coaches, fifth-year Shannon Small of the Duquesne University bowling team was selected as the 2025 NEC Bowler of the Year Thursday. In addition, Small was one of three Dukes to garner All-NEC First Team accolades, joining junior Emma Siekierski and senior Ranelle Ulanday.

Small, a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., is the second consecutive member of the Dukes to take home the top honor from the conference as well as the third overall in program history. Kiearra Saldi (2019-24) was named the 2024 NEC Bowler of the Year, while Olivia Farwell (2017-22) was selected the NEC Bowler of the Year in both 2019 and 2022. Small also joins Farwell as the only two bowlers in school history to be named both the NEC Rookie of the Year and NEC Bowler of the Year.

A four-time NEC Bowler of the Week, Small enters the 2025 NEC Championship this weekend leading the Dukes in strikes (530), strike percentage (.474), spare conversion (.770) and overall frame percentage (.879). She is also tops for the Dukes with an average frame score of 20.28 and an average first ball of 9.03.

During the 2024-25 season, Small finished in the top six individually in seven of Duquesne's eight competitions. She saved one of her best performances for last, winning NEC #2 in Altoona, Pa., at Holiday Bowl with 1,170 total pins, an average score of 195.0 that topped a field of 54 bowlers. Small also finished second at the Northeast Classic, third at the Garden State Classic, fourth at the Stallings Invitational, tied for fifth at NEC #1 and sixth at both the Penguin Classic and the Prairie View A&M Invitational.

The individual title for Small at NEC #2 this season marked the third of her career, as she also won back-to-back crowns at the Red Flash Invitational in 2023 and 2024. In the two NEC competitions this season, Small led the conference in overall fill percentage (.854), fill percentage in Baker play (.892), individual single-pin spare percentage at 100 percent (61-for-61), 10th frame fill percentage (.867) as the anchor and makeable spare conversion percentage (.881).

Entering the 2025 NEC Championship this weekend, Small ranks 30th in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Player Composite Performance Index (PCPI) at 84.470 percent. Elsewhere, Small ranks sixth in traditional average among United States Bowling Congress (USBC) leaders at 209.211, an average that would rank second in the Duquesne single-season record book.

Small was also named to the All-NEC First Team for the third consecutive year, joining Farwell as the only two bowlers in program history to accomplish the feat, as she is joined by Siekierski and Ulanday, who are each bestowed All-NEC First Team plaudits for the first time.

Siekierski, a native of Davison, Mich., has produced an overall fill percentage of 83.6 percent this season to go along with 505 strikes, a 19.32 average frame score, a 43.2 percent strike percentage and a spare conversion percentage of 71.2 percent. She led the Dukes at the ISC Sectionals, finishing 17th with 1,251 total pins.

Ulanday, a native of Union, Ky., has amassed 452 strikes during the 2024-25 season to go along with an overall fill percentage of 83.6 percent, an average frame score of 19.47 and a spare conversion percentage of 69 percent. Ulanday was named NEC Bowler of the Week after her performance at Destination Orlando, where she finished 15th individually with an average of 217.20 in five games.

Overall during her career, Small garnered five postseason accolades from the NEC. In addition to being named to the All-NEC First Team three times, she was tabbed to the 2021 All-NEC Rookie Team and earned a spot on the 2022 All-NEC Second Team. Siekierski and Ulanday each gather their second postseason honor, as Siekierski was selected to the 2023 All-NEC Rookie Team, while Ulanday earned a spot on the 2024 All-NEC Second Team.

Led by head coach Jody Fetterhoff, Duquesne owns an overall record of 56-45 (.554) entering the 2025 NEC Championship this weekend in Hamilton, N.J., at Hamilton Lanes. Included is a mark of 15-9 (.625) in the NEC. The Dukes enter the 2025 NEC Championship as the No. 2 seed and will open action Friday, March 21, at 2:00 p.m. against No. 3 seed Mercyhurst.

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