Pittsburgh, Pa. – Junior
Maribeth Baker of the Duquesne University bowling team is one of 10 finalists for the 2026 International Bowling Media Association (IBMA) Collegiate Bowler of the Year, presented by Storm Bowling. It marks the second consecutive year a member of the Dukes has been tabbed a finalist as well as the third time overall in 10 years Duquesne has been an NCAA Division I program.
The IBMA Collegiate Bowler of the Year, presented by Storm Bowling, is given each year to a male and female bowler who excels on the lanes in the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) certified collegiate tournament and conference play. Players must have a cumulative 32 games and be a top 20 of either Average Differential or Average or have won a Tier 1 as an individual to be considered for the award. The award was established in 1987 to honor the sport's finest collegiate players, and winners will be announced prior to the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITC) "Night of Champions" banquet.
Baker, a native of York, Pa., joins former teammate
Shannon Small (2020-25) and Olivia Farwell (2017-22) in being nominated for the top IBMA award. Farwell would go on to earn STORM/IMBA All-America Honorable Mention accolades in 2022, while last year Small was named to the 2025 IBMA All-America Second Team.
Named to the
2026 All-Northeast Conference (NEC) First Team, Baker helped the Dukes
claim a share of the 2026 NEC regular season championship with Niagara and was a key contributor as Duquesne finished a perfect
6-0 en route to its first NEC Tournament crown last weekend.
At the NEC Championship, Baker averaged 9.33 on her first ball in traditional play to go along with an overall fill percentage of 86.7 and an average frame of 23.07. In Baker action in the same competition, she logged an average of 9.13 on her first ball, a 20.23 frame average and an overall fill percentage of 83.3.
Overall this season, Baker has posted an average frame score of 20.74, an overall fill percentage of 84.2 and an average of 9.09 on her first ball. She also has recorded a 54.5 strike percentage (664-for-1,219) and has been successful on 78 percent of her makeable spares. Among NCAA Division I leaders, Baker ranks 15th in scoring average, including seventh in traditional format (21.29), ninth in strike percentage and seventh in 10th frame scoring average (21.25).
Baker also ranks 25th among NCAA Division I bowlers in Player Composite Performance Index (PCPI), a measure that combines identified categories percentage of competitors that a bowler has outperformed within that category. Baker has posted an 87.897 PCPI percentage while competing in 98.6 percent of the program's 1,031 frames this season.
Led by head coach
Jody Fetterhoff, the Dukes will learn of their opponent in the NCAA Regionals Wednesday, March 25, at 4:00 p.m. via the NCAA Selection Show. As an institution, Duquesne is in its fourth year as host of an NCAA Regional at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes, which are set for Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4.
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