Kelly Whipple, a General Business major, and member of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s bowling team, was selected as the 2024-25 NCAA Division III Player of the Year in women’s bowling by the National Tenpin Coaches Association.

Whipple earned the award for the second time in her career.

Whipple is the first two-time NTCA Division III Bowler of the Year for UW-Whitewater. In addition to this season, Whipple was the DIII Bowler of the Year in 2023 and the Division III Rookie of the Year in 2022. This is the fourth straight season and sixth overall the top bowler in Division III has been a Warhawk (Rachel Nelson 2024, Caitlin Mertins 2022, Amanda VanDuyn 2016, Katie Zwiefelhofer 2014). Whipple bowled in every possible frame for UWW this season. She is the eighth-ranked anchor bowler across all divisions with an 88.6% fill rate in the 10th frame. This season, Whipple has averaged 198.9 in traditional games and 197.3 in Baker games. She boasts a fill percentage of 85.7, strike percentage of 46.3 and makeable spare rate of 82.2%.

The 2024-25 Warhawks lead Division III in five of seven statistical categories recognized by the NTCA for awards. UW-Whitewater is the top Division III program in the latest NTCA Power Index and is ranked 12th overall. This season, UWW led Division III in traditional frame average (18.82%), Baker frame average (19.13%), Baker double percentage (42.4), strike percentage (42.3) and overall spare conversion (68.8%).

UW-Whitewater will make its 10th appearance in the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships set for April 16-19 in Las Vegas. The Warhawks qualified after finishing among the top four teams in the Addison, Illinois sectional. Warhawk Jordyn Norvell (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Tremper) qualified for the Intercollegiate Singles Championship after finishing fifth in a field of over 200 bowlers in the sectional. The ISC is set to run April 14-16 leading into the team championship.