[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Hello, welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Sullentrop of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. Thanks very much for listening. We appreciate your time. Our guests are Wichita State bowlers Alicia Oden and Olivia Lizzie. Shockers are in their third season as an NCAA sport. They finished as the national runner up last spring and they were national semifinalists in 2025.
WSU starts its season in October. They have a scrimmage on Oct. Oct. 16, then the next day they play in the Mid States Championships at Bolero Northridge. That serves as an exhibition tournament. And then things get started for real at Destination Orlando in Orlando. And that starts October 30th.
WSU returns three All Americans, four seniors, two juniors and two sophomores from a team that went 79 and 36, won the NCAA Arlington Regional and defeated third seeded Arkansas State and second seeded Vanderbilt before losing top seed Jacksonville State in the title match. Alicia is a senior from Council Bluffs, Iowa. Olivia is a freshman from Sandusky, Ohio. Alicia, take us through the routine early in the fall for Shockers as you are getting prepared for tournament season. How are practices structured?
[00:01:23] Speaker C: Oh, that's a great question.
Practices kind of vary. We have practice once a week as a team and then we have a two on one each week. It's about an hour and a half.
Practices are, I don't know, they're kind of structured, like back to the basics a little bit, rebuild. It's a new team this year, a lot of returners, but a new group of girls. And so just a lot of spare shooting, a lot of going back to what are my targets, trying different things on the lane and just working as a team again. So.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: And a two for one is what?
[00:02:01] Speaker C: A two on one is two players, one coach. And so we get like a lesson with coachell once a week just to work on more individual game things, physical game, versatility, skills. If something feels off, we address it at that time.
[00:02:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:19] Speaker B: So as a senior you've been through this a lot. Did you come into this fall with a particular goal in mind, an area of your game you were really working on?
[00:02:28] Speaker C: Team goal is to win a national championship at the end of this season.
Individual goal is just to keep having fun, enjoying bowling. I feel like at some points last year I got really caught up in my performance and how well I did and it made me like lose a little bit of love for the sport.
So continuing to enjoy and love bowling.
[00:02:51] Speaker B: Olivia, as a freshman, what's the transition to college bowling life been like for you?
[00:02:56] Speaker A: It has definitely been very Crazy. Me and my roommate talk about it all the time, but I like absolutely love this. It's definitely different from coming from just playing the sport individually and then going into a team setting.
But I feel like it's so rewarding getting up early. Every single day may not seem as rewarding when it first starts out, but I've grown to love waking up early, going to lifts, going to practice because the team dynamic is so much more than I hoped for. I was really excited about this season and like being with a whole new group of girls than I've ever been with on past teams, like a high school team. But I absolutely love this. So it's amazing.
[00:03:41] Speaker B: So how do chakra coaches, Holly Harris, how do your teammates, how do they get that team aspect across to you?
[00:03:49] Speaker A: They really encourage me to learn my teammates game, like what works for them, what they like to hear when they're on the approach and just being there for them even when they're like when they're not having their best day. Even if I'm not having my best day, you're in a team setting so you can't just worry about yourself. You have to worry about your teammates too. And I've really learned that and I feel like I've grown a lot from that.
So if a teammate's not doing well, you always want to make sure that they're their teammates are going to lift them up no matter what because then that's gonna help them too.
[00:04:23] Speaker B: How many times do you have to hit snooze in the morning?
[00:04:27] Speaker A: Many more times than I thought I would like to, but it's okay.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: So were you an early morning person or has this been an adjustment?
[00:04:34] Speaker A: It's been an adjustment. I mean I've always woke up kind of early for school, but Definitely not at 5:20 in the morning every morning. So it's definitely a big adjustment, but I like it.
[00:04:44] Speaker B: So you're up at 5:20 and then weights and the class routine and bowling routine then takes over.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:04:51] Speaker B: Okay.
Bowlers do not have walk up songs. I learned softball players would. Baseball players would. Olivia, if you did get to use a walk up song, what would it be?
[00:05:02] Speaker A: My walk up song would be Just Keep watching by Tate McRae. I love Tate McCray. I will always love Tate McRae. So I love that song.
[00:05:10] Speaker B: Okay. Alicia, how about you?
[00:05:12] Speaker C: My walk up song would probably be God is by Kanye West. I heard it from a, it was a baseball player's walk up song a few years ago and I really liked it. So that would be my Walk up song.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: How about bowling superstitions?
Do either of you have any bowling superstitions?
Ooh.
[00:05:33] Speaker C: I used to be really superstitious about how my hair had to look on competition days.
Sophomore year. Me was always doing a slick back. But I've grown since then.
I kind of just do whatever I feel like doing with my hair now.
[00:05:48] Speaker A: And it.
[00:05:49] Speaker C: I mean, less superstitious about my hair now.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: Okay, Olivia, any.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: Let's just say if I get into a routine and then, like, maybe I breathe differently, and it's just not the same.
I think that I'm gonna bullpen.
Or, like, let's say, like, I wipe my shoe off one shot, and I didn't wipe my shoe off the last, like, 30 shots. I'm gonna be like, oh, my gosh, I just messed up my routine. That's like, my superstition. I'm like, oh, my gosh. I. I need to stop doing that.
[00:06:14] Speaker B: So, Olivia, take us through your choice to come to Wichita State for college and for bowling.
[00:06:20] Speaker A: So, Wichita State. I had always known about Wichita State. I had always heard it from my parents because, you know, they always talk about back in their day, Wichita State was always their rival. But I had always known Wichita State as, like, the best bowling school to go to.
And I had gone to another school, and I did think that that was going to be my dream school.
And I kind of. I wanted to come here, obviously, because I knew that this had such a great history and the program was amazing. So I came here not really having any, like, expectations because I didn't know what to. What to expect from here. And I walked away with every single. Like, every single question answered, every single worry answered. Like, I walked away here more welcome than I've ever felt. Like. I already felt like I was a part of the team before I even signed.
And they, like, the teammates, they would text me throughout the summer, just asking how I was asking how school was going, asking how my other sports were going. So I felt like that was them telling me, like, we really want you here, and we feel like you would be such a good fit here. So I chose Wichita State, and I'm so happy and grateful for it.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: Did you enter the process with a checklist? Here are things I definitely want.
[00:07:45] Speaker A: I entered Wichita State kind of with, like, a blank slate. I knew the one thing I want to do is I just want to learn more about myself as a bowler here, because I knew that that was what they were going to help me with.
So I feel like that slate is definitely growing as I'm here. I mean, I've only been here for two months, and I've already learned so much about myself, but also about the team, which is another big thing. Like, I really wanted that.
[00:08:11] Speaker B: So you come from a really significant bowling family?
[00:08:14] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: Were they super involved in the process? Did they let it kind of take your. The path that you wanted? How would you describe that?
[00:08:23] Speaker A: My.
My parents, they let me. Like, they didn't force me to do anything. They didn't say, hey, we think you should go here. They looked at me and they said, if you think this is where you want to go, then you go there. They wanted to make sure that it was my decision and they would support me no matter what.
So when I told my mom, like, she was so excited. She was so ecstatic. I told my Aunt Carolyn. She was so ecstatic. And then I called my Aunt Tammy, and she said, you're going to the rival school. I can't believe you. And then she was like, I'm so happy for you. But my aunt said, I secretly wanted you to go there. Like, a lot of my family members wanted me to go here. And I feel like that makes it even more special because they really believed in me that I could go here.
[00:09:14] Speaker B: My kids charge me $10 every time I say, well, back in the day or when I was there. Did you ever think about that, maybe making a little money from your parents?
[00:09:22] Speaker A: Oh, always. I mean, the amount of times I hear back in my day, if they're trying to teach me a lesson, and I'm like, well, this isn't back in your day anymore. But I do take a little value in those lessons, even though I don't show it. But I should start charging them for those little lectures.
[00:09:39] Speaker B: That's a good idea. Alicia, you're a senior. Tell us how you got to Wichita State.
[00:09:44] Speaker C: My experience was a lot different on the college search.
I wanted to go to a school where I could study engineering and also have a chance to bowl somewhere.
A lot of business that I went on. They had really cool bowling programs, but didn't have engineering.
And then I assembled across Wichita State. I knew that Wichita State had a really prestigious bowling program.
They were a club sport at the time, so competed at the USBC events. And I was like, you know what? I want to take a shot and see what it would be like to try out for the bowling team at wsu. They have so many engineering programs. Like, this would be great. It's affordable.
So talked to Holly, tried out for the bowling team my freshman year. And made it and rest is history, so pretty cool.
[00:10:32] Speaker B: Alicia, other than bowling, do you have a favorite sport?
[00:10:37] Speaker C: I enjoy watching a lot of sports. Not so much playing. I'm more of, like, a strictly Play bowling, but I enjoy watching, like, volleyball, football, baseball, softball, so.
[00:10:48] Speaker B: Okay, Olivia, how about you? Do you have a favorite sport besides bowling?
[00:10:51] Speaker A: I love tennis. I played tennis all four years of high school. I've been watching tennis ever since I was little with my mom, so I love that sport. I always say if I didn't bowl, I would try to become a professional tennis player because I love it so much.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: Let's go back to that bowling family that we mentioned. Your dad, Jeff, your mom Kathy, significant professional bowlers and collegiate bowlers. Your aunt Carolyn Doran. Am I pronouncing that right? Doran Ballard and your uncle Del Ballard are also successful professional bowlers. They're in hall of Fames, they've won tour events, all that. All that kind of stuff. How did growing up in that kind of a family influence you and get you to where you are today?
[00:11:31] Speaker A: Well, I basically lived in a bowling center my whole life. I mean, I remember that more than being at my actual house, but they didn't force it on me. They always say, like, oh, you were going to be a bowler anyway, but they really didn't force bowling, like, force me to bowl.
We always ran a junior program at our center, and I didn't start right away, and then I started watching, and I'm like, I really want to do that.
So I started bowling in our junior league when I was four or five, maybe six, I don't even know, but I loved it. And I would always go into my dad's pro shop, and I would steal all the wrist braces, and I'd steal all the tape out of the pro shop and, like, put it all over my ball, not knowing, like, what it did. And I'd go around the bowling center telling people like open bowlers how to bowl, because I thought I knew everything.
And then I started bowling competitively in 2021, and I bowled my first tournament in Texas, where my Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Del lived. And I remember I started off really good, and then, like, all the wheels fell off right after that. And I looked at my mom and I was like, I don't want to do this anymore. Like, I can't do it. And.
And then on the plane ride home, I said, I really want to work at this, and I really want to get better. And then that August, I was able to medal at one of My first tournaments. So I feel like that really stuck with me and that will always stick with me because it just shows. Like you can have all of your wheels fall off and you can go really deep into a struggle, but you can always dig yourself back up.
And they've always supported me, they've always helped me. They've always, they just always loved that I did everything my own way, but I learned from, like my own mistakes. I learned from what they taught me and I feel like that was really special for me.
[00:13:29] Speaker B: So, Alicia, you're a left hander. Olivia, you bowl right handed. Alicia, take people through. What's the difference? Is one considered an advantage in the sport?
[00:13:39] Speaker C: A hot take to start off? I guess bowling a day, the lanes start off the same, but there's naturally more right handers majority of the time, almost all the time, some would say, than left handers. So the conditions stay pretty close to the same throughout the entire day.
This can be an advantage when you're lined up and there's a little bit of mis room because it usually just stays there the entire day for the
[00:14:10] Speaker B: right handers, for the left, for the
[00:14:11] Speaker C: left hand, for the lefties. Yes. You're not having to change a whole
[00:14:14] Speaker B: lot because there are so few of them.
[00:14:16] Speaker C: Yes. So there's less people bowling over there. So that changes, changes a little bit less on the other side. However, if it's a harder pattern, it likely stays hard. And if you can't get matched up and you'll have a lot of mis room, it's likely going to stay hard the entire day.
On the right hander side, there's a lot more traffic, a lot more people bowling, so they're gonna have to move a lot more throughout the day.
The cool thing about it is the rest of our team is right handed, so we get to watch a lot of shots and like help each other stay lined up throughout days.
Yeah, I think there's, there's advantages and disadvantages, but definitely in the college bowling world, it can be a really cool advantage to be left handed most of the time.
[00:15:01] Speaker B: Alicia. So shockers. Great season last year. Finished as the NCAA runner up.
Best moment of last season. What jumps into your brain if someone were to ask you to hit him with a highlight?
[00:15:14] Speaker C: I think we were talking about this earlier, actually.
I think the coolest moment of last season was at final four when we bowled against Vandy to go to the TV show.
I just thought that, that like three hours of match was just so cool. You were also lined up and also together and just Winning, that felt really good because we were all playing so well. It didn't matter who was on the other side of the ball return.
[00:15:40] Speaker B: So last season's success, how are the coaches dealing with that? Do they never mention it? They're clean slate. We don't talk about it. Do they bring it up, use it as motivation, or is it kind of a by occasion kind of a thing? How would you describe that?
[00:15:55] Speaker C: I think it's definitely a mix of both. Like, remember the. The good that happened from this, but also know that there's more good to come, and you can kind of use that to learn, but it's not like we don't want to sit in that, if that makes sense.
Using it to remember the good, but also to know that there's more good coming.
[00:16:15] Speaker B: So bowling season starts in October. You may be going until late March, early April. Alicia, what's your advice for the freshmen about how do you get prepared mentally and physically for the. For the travel, the competition, classroom, work, all that kind of stuff?
[00:16:31] Speaker C: It's hard, but it's so worth it. And leaning on your teammates is the best thing you can do.
Your teammates are here to help you and be there to pick you up when you're down and also to hype you up. Whenever you're doing something really cool, whether it be in bowling or in school. You just ace a test. Like, we're here to hype you up. So it's hard, but it's so worth it, and it flies by. And it's crazy because they always say it, but they said that four years ago or three years ago, and I'm now a senior, so it does really fly by.
[00:17:03] Speaker B: Olivia, where is your favorite place to bowl? In the country or in the world? I guess. If you had to pick one bowling center to bowl in, what would it be?
[00:17:10] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness.
I feel like I want to say my home center just because I love it so much. I could say any other bowling center in the world, but I really do love my home center because I've just made so many memories there, and I've improved so much there.
[00:17:27] Speaker B: Alicia, do you have a favorite place?
[00:17:31] Speaker C: I think there's a lot of good bowling centers out there. I feel like if I had to do, like a top three because I can't narrow it down right now.
Thunderbolt in Allen Park, Michigan. I think that's my top one right now. That just has a really. It's a really cool place, really good memories there. I think Yorktown Lanes, where Final four was last year, that was Just really cool.
And then Boardwalk bowl down in Orlando, Florida. That's just a really cool center.
Yeah.
[00:17:59] Speaker B: Snacks on a road trip. You're going to be doing a lot of traveling. Alicia, what's your go to?
[00:18:08] Speaker C: I like pretzels, and I like Chex mix. I like the salty snacks on plane rides.
[00:18:14] Speaker B: Okay. Olivia, do you have preferences for road trips?
[00:18:18] Speaker A: I would actually second the Chex mix. I've been obsessed with Chex mix ever since I got here. I don't know what it is, but I also love extra toasty Cheez.
[00:18:26] Speaker B: Its.
[00:18:27] Speaker A: Those are really good.
[00:18:29] Speaker C: We like Cheez. Its honesty. Yes.
[00:18:31] Speaker A: They're so good.
[00:18:32] Speaker B: Can't go wrong with good cheeses. Lots of varieties, lots of flavors.
Olivia, let's say your high school says, we want you to come on back and talk to our sophomores and juniors who are starting their athletic journey. They maybe want to go on to college and play a sport. What would your advice be to them?
[00:18:53] Speaker A: My advice would be, I always say this to let their game do the talking, because I myself have been one to see, like, the cockiness that can be in sports and people talking themselves up like, oh, my gosh, I'm so good.
I'm doing so good, and that's totally okay. And you can continue to do good. But I feel like I value being humble because teams don't want cockiness. They want to see that you are calm in the chaos. They want to see that you, like, prioritize being kind with people because that's what you want on a team. And I would tell them just to keep working hard, because the struggle, that's what the coaches want to see you struggle. They want to see you handle your struggle, because they know that if you're struggling on a team aspect, then you're gonna bring the team up instead of take it down with you. And I feel like anybody could be a college athlete if they put their mind to it and if they just keep working hard at it and never give up at that.
[00:20:06] Speaker B: So you would be one that would believe your body language is important, that when you come away from the lane, that you know how you're interacting with your teammates, how you handled a bad moment. Those things are all coaches are watching, and that's important.
[00:20:19] Speaker A: Absolutely. As one who did not have the best body language, I can tell you 100% that they are looking to see how you handle that.
[00:20:30] Speaker B: Who noticed that? Who put you on the right track as far as body language?
[00:20:34] Speaker A: My mother.
The amount of conversations I've had with her about trying to keep My composure.
I don't want to say arguments, but there have been very heated conversations.
But she helped me learn that, and I learned that about myself, and I took ownership for that because I knew I was doing it and I knew it wasn't good. And I knew if I wanted to bowl in a collegiate setting, that I needed to keep that under control. So.
[00:21:06] Speaker B: Okay, shout out, Mom. They always know. It's usually best to listen to their advice. That's the case. Alicia, you have the wisdom now of old age in the college bowling. What's your advice?
What is your advice to the youngsters in high school who are thinking about taking an athletic journey?
[00:21:26] Speaker C: Figure out what you want in the college bowling realm. College bowling is a team sport. It's not an individual sport. So be ready to be a part of a team in something much bigger than just yourself.
Figure out what you want in a team, what you want in a program, and what you want in your education as well. Don't sacrifice your education to go bull somewhere because your education is going to take you the distance in your inner life.
[00:21:55] Speaker B: Book, tv, movie, Podcast. Recommendation. Olivia, what are you reading? Listening, Watching that you would recommend for the people?
[00:22:03] Speaker A: I would recommend watching the Rookie.
I am on, like, my fourth rewatch of this show. It's so incredibly good. Please go watch the Rookie. You will not regret it.
[00:22:14] Speaker B: What is your. Who's your favorite character?
[00:22:17] Speaker A: I like. Okay, Can I name two?
[00:22:18] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:22:19] Speaker A: I like Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen forever. Don't play with me about those characters because I love them so much.
[00:22:26] Speaker B: They're a cute couple, that's for sure.
[00:22:28] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: Yes. Okay. Good choice. The Rookie. Alicia, what's your recommendation?
[00:22:32] Speaker C: I recently started watching the Chosen.
It's actually pretty good so far, so highly recommend. It's a little bit different than some other shows I've watched, but it's good and it's insightful.
[00:22:44] Speaker B: Okay, tell us a little bit more about the Chosen for people who aren't familiar.
[00:22:47] Speaker C: Yeah, the Chosen is essentially just a bunch of episodes about Jesus's life through while he was.
From when he was born to when he dies. So it's really cool to just see that the Bible come to life in
[00:23:02] Speaker B: a TV show and the Rookie. I guess we should explain. Well, Olivia, I'll let you explain. Give people the quick recap of what the Rookie is about.
[00:23:10] Speaker A: It's a cop show about an older guy who joins the police academy. That's why they call it the Rookie because he's the oldest rookie in the lapd and it just kind of shows him as well as like all the other cops, their journey through like the years of being on patrol and the different departments they can go to and yeah, it's just such a good show. Amazing.
[00:23:37] Speaker B: Good recommendation. Shocker bowling. They have the mid States championships at Bolero Northridge October 17th and 18th, and then they start their NCAA competition. That's at Destination Orlando October 30th in Orlando. Alicia Oden and Olivia Lizzy, thank you for your time.
[00:23:56] Speaker C: Would I be able to add one more thing about this advice to the youngsters?
[00:24:01] Speaker A: To the youngsters?
[00:24:02] Speaker B: We're always up for advice to the youngsters.
[00:24:04] Speaker C: Okay, I have one more thing that I totally forgot.
I think working on your mental game is the most important thing you can do.
Your mental game will set you so, like, will open the doors to so much more success than your physical game ever will.
Because if your mental game is a lot better than you're more receptive to physical game changes. I think that's what helped me grow so much was the mental game as comparatively to physical game.
[00:24:31] Speaker B: And I'm sure Wichita State coaches would love to talk about the mental game. What did you learn during your time at Wichita State about the mental game and how you can sharpen it?
[00:24:39] Speaker C: I think the biggest thing that still sticks with me today is controlling what you can control and just like quieting your mind, like having good thoughts, they like controlling what you can control. You can't control the outcome of shots and you can't control what other people are doing, but you can control yourself and how well you are doing your routine. I think that that's really cool. That's what has still stuck with me today.
[00:25:05] Speaker B: Okay, great.
Anything else before we exit?
Okay, we're good. Chakra bowling. They're getting started.
First NCAA competition, October 30th in Orlando. Alicia and Olivia, thank you very much for your time.
[00:25:19] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:25:20] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:25:36] Speaker B: Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse podcast courtesy of Wichita State University Strategic Communications.
We encourage you to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more roundhouse
[email protected] it's over.
It is over, ladies and gentlemen. Say it slowly and savor it. Wichita State is going to the Final four for the first time in 48 years. Unbelievable. What a scene, folks. The Shocker fans are just going crazy in the stands. Just maybe the greatest win in the history of Wichita State basketball.
