Orlando, Fla. — The Villages High School girls bowling team came up one victory short of the ultimate prize Thursday night in Orlando.
The Buffalo finished as state runner-up in the 2024 FHSAA State Championships at Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center, where they stunned a loaded field to finish second only to East River (Orlando) on the sport's biggest stage.
"I'm just so proud of this team and I couldn't possibly be disappointed by any of it," said VHS bowling head coach Joe Hornstein. "All I ever ask of them is to truthfully tell me at the end of the day that they did all they could do, and I know we did all we could've done here these past two days. They put on a show this week and we surprised a lot of people, and I just love every single one of these girls."
The Buffalo, who finished a perfect 14-0 in head-to-head match play during the regular season, entered the two-day state tournament having captured the program's third consecutive district title last week.
VHS opened with a head-turning march atop the standings, clinching the No. 1 overall seed in the statewide event's double-elimination tournament by tallying the highest pinfall across four games of qualifying early on Wednesday. The Buffalo then picked up a trio of wins late in the day on Wednesday, advancing to Thursday's semifinals on the strength of victories over Lake Mary, Jensen Beach and Rockledge.
The Villages lost its semifinal matchup to East River, falling in a 3-0 sweep, bouncing the Buffalo over to the consolation bracket. That's where they rebounded for a 3-0 sweep win of their own against Heritage, extending their season to face East River once more in a winner-take-all nightcap.
VHS stared down an early 0-2 hole, dropping the first two games 202-179 and 195-182, respectively, before Hornstein pulled his team aside as they were pushed to the brink.
"I brought them in and told them, 'There's no more excuses, we have to put it together and either fight or go home,'" Hornstein said. "As a coach, you have to know when you need to motivate — and when you need to give a push — and that was a time to push them and then hope they respond."
The Buffalo did just that for their coach, rallying for victories in back-to-back win-or-go-home games, 221-184 and 169-148, to extend the championship finale to its fifth and final game.
But it was all East River in the end, who clinched the state title with a strong run of strikes throughout the late frames to secure a 225-209 win and take home the championship trophy.
"Coming into this tournament, we didn't even think about coming in second," said VHS senior Logan Edelstein. "We were honestly hoping to just have a good time and go out with a bang. We worked really hard to get here and we showed how hard we could fight, and I know we gave it all we could."
The state runner-up finish equals the second-place finish accomplished by the VHS boys basketball team in 2022-23, standing as the only two state championship game appearances for any sport in school history. The second-place finish is also the best in bowling history at VHS, besting the third-place finish by the Buffalo boys bowling team back in 2019.
"I know we fought so hard, but sometimes, someone else is just a little bit better than you," Hornstein said. "But this was such a great week — we had so much fun — and it was overall just such a great year. I can't be anything but proud of this team."
Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment via email at cody.hills@tvcs.org.
