At this stage in her life as a bowler, Shannon Small isn’t likely to make a quantum leap in her game. For someone who averaged 223 during her senior year at Plum, the ceiling isn’t far away.

Now, it’s more about fine-tuning and adapting to the rigors of competing at the college level. As she enters the winter portion of her sophomore season at Duquesne, she is doing just that.

After earning Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year last winter, Small finished the fall portion of the Dukes’ 2021-22 schedule ranked fifth in the nation in makeable spare percentage in Baker format (88.1) and 11th in individual makeable spare conversion rate (86.5).

“I’ve had fun with it so far,” Small said.

Not that there haven’t been challenges. Mainly, the restrictions brought on by the pandemic made it difficult to get acclimated to being a Division I athlete.

The match schedule during her freshman season, essentially, was cut in half because of travel restrictions. Bonding time with teammates was disjointed, as they often had to practice in smaller groups and were limited in their gatherings away from the lanes because of regulations regarding dorm visits. (Small at least had the benefit of former Plum teammate Sarah Kirkpatrick being on the team.)

“I don’t know what a regular season is like because I started in a covid season,” Small said. “This season has been a lot more normal than last year. Last year, there were a lot of restrictions. But I still figured out the team aspect of everything, but it was more difficult because of all the restrictions.”

Ready or not, Small was thrust into an important role as a freshman. Because of an injury to one of the Dukes’ top bowlers, Small was put into the revamped lineup at the No. 4 position, where she set the table for the anchor bowler. Think of it in baseball terms as being the set-up man for the closer.

“She came in ready to go and helped us out immensely,” said coach Jody Fetterhoff, who has guided the Dukes since the program’s inception five years ago. “It was a very high-pressure situation, and she was really able to do a good job with that.”

Small played her role to perfection, and as last winter rolled around, the Dukes’ schedule stabilized. They finished 35-17 overall (16-5 NEC).

The 2021-22 season has been more typical. Duquesne finished the fall 36-19 overall and 4-3 in the NEC. The winter schedule opens Jan. 23 and builds toward the NEC championship March 25-27.

With a bigger sampling of matches and more regular practice time, Fetterhoff has helped Small tinker with her game.

She and Small have been working a lot on ball speed. Because Small throws a slower ball, Fetterhoff said, she needs to release it further out onto the lane so she can overcome shorter oil patterns and higher-friction surfaces to be able to strike more.

“The biggest thing with Shannon in the fall, the (oil) patterns and the surfaces that we bowled on, they were not her ‘A’ game,” Fetterhoff said. “So she was asked to do things that were not her comfort zone. She’s a phenomenal spare shooter, and we needed her basically for her spare shooting.

“No matter what we’re bowling on, I can count on her to make her spares. And that’s really what you want in your three-, four-hole bowler.”

In addition, Small said she is working on adapting to how lane conditions change throughout the course of a match. She said she can see improvement and is confident she can continue on that trajectory.

“All the training we do, I have become a little more consistent,” she said. “I have learned a lot, bowling-wise and competing-wise. There was a lot to learn. … I know a lot more about bowling now.”

And though the ceiling is in sight, Fetterhoff said Small isn’t there yet.

“She can go as far as she wants,” Fetterhoff said. “She’s doing everything that she needs to be doing and … the more experience she gets, the more comfortable she gets, she’s just going to get so much better.”

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