Congratulations to the Hicksville Girls Varsity Bowling Team for winning their first Nassau County Bowling title in school history. After winning the Conference IV title for the second time in four years, with 12-0 in their regular season, the Nassau County third-ranked team competed in the playoff tournament at the Garden City Bowl on Feb. 2.

"Stay relaxed, positive and confident for 60 frames and you will be happy with the outcome at the end of the day," Coach John Bertuzzi told the girls before the tournament.

With the exception of finishing sixth in the first game, the girls finished in first or second place for the balance of the tournament before going into the final game. And, although 21 pins off the lead in the last game, the team pulled together to cinch first place with a 12 pin lead over Levittown's Division Avenue High School.

"Leading the way was seventh-grader Caitlyn Garger, who averaged 209 after the first three games," said Bertuzzi. Caitlyn finished the tournament with a 184 average, while juniors Ellen Kleeman and Tiffany Ruffo averaged 176 and 173 respectively, and senior Chrissy Duffy averaged 170. "Freshman Alyssa Hesse and junior Rachel Laura contributed key pin falls to complete the victory," he said.

Caitlyn, Ellen, Tiffany and Chrissy ended the regular season achieving the status of All-County bowlers with averages of 160.0 or higher.