For the seventh time in program history, the Arkansas State Red Wolves bowling team rolled into the final four. The team’s impressive season run ultimately came to a close in back-to-back 2-0 losses against Wichita State and Vanderbilt University.

With Arkansas State hosting 16 NCAA Division I varsity teams, the bowling program has continuously stood out as one of the university’s most consistent contenders to appear on the national stage. But behind the wins are the athletes who make it all possible.

Victoria Fleming, a first-year graphic design major with a minor in business from Pinellas Park, Florida, found her passion early in life in her own way.

“I’ve been bowling since I was 8 years old. A lot of people fall under; their parents bowled, but I went to a friend’s birthday party, and I thought, ‘I like this,’” Fleming said.

From there, Fleming would go on to bowl in competitions across the United States, eventually leading her to one of the top bowling programs in the nation: Arkansas State. To compete at the level of athletes like Fleming, it takes more than just physical skill; it requires mental visualization beyond the lanes.

“We do a lot of mental work too,” Fleming said. “You don’t want to have that state of mind where it’s like, ‘hopefully we make it.’ You’re preparing now because you’re going to make it.”

Alex-Anne Auclair, a sophomore majoring in exercise science from Laval, Quebec, Canada, said she took a different path in her introduction to bowling.

“I’m the fourth generation,” Auclair said. “Someone told my dad to put us in a youth league, and that’s pretty much how it started.”

Auclair’s success quickly followed, becoming a national champion multiple times before making the next big move in her career.

“The next step was really just going to college because I felt like I had done what I could back home,” Auclair said.

Though the two athletes found different paths into bowling, both experienced the same community at Arkansas State.

“When I came here, I was kind of more of a shy person, but the bowling team really brought out the extrovert in me. They’ve become like a family,” Fleming said.

The team’s bond shows up in their small moments between matches, Fleming said that before tournaments, the team will get together and play games like Rummy. Players can talk and compete, allowing teammates to get more comfortable with each other’s personalities, which carries over into competition.

“Our team is very ‘ride or die,’ on and off the lane,” Auclair said. “When the energy is there, we say ‘the pins know it,’” Auclair said.

This energy carried the team through their Final Four run, even in their tensest moments. An individual bowler from Wichita had rolled an almost perfect game, leading up to the matchup against Arkansas State, making it almost impossible for the team to seal a victory.

“There was a point where we knew we weren’t going to come back,” Fleming said. “But you still need to act like the fight is still on, so when you leave, you can say you fought as hard as you could.”

The team’s success this season shows how teammates who support one another like family can come together to win games through a shared mindset. With these strong bonds, the team hopes they can come back together to reach the Final Four again next year.

“We were still fighting. Even though the pins didn’t go our way, we didn’t give up,” Auclair said.

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