Kayla Verstraete Season 2023-24

Honors & Awards

• NTCA All-American (Second Team, 2021; Third Team, 2022; Third Team, 2024)
• NTCA All-Academic Scholar (2023) 
• NTCA All-Central Region (2021, 2022)
• NTCA All-Freshman Team (2021)
• Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2022, 2023; Spring 2020, 2021)
• Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
• U.S. Singles Champion (2018)

2023-24 (Senior)
As the lone fifth-year member of the team, Kayla Verstraete continued to provide leadership both on and off the lanes for the Husker program. Verstraete competed in all but one regular season tournament including the NCAA Lansing Regional, highlighted by an MVP finish at the Prairie View A&M Invite. Verstraete also added another top 10 finish at the Northeast Classic as well as a pair of top-25 finishes later in the season. Verstaete ended the season earning Second-Team All-America Honors, making this the third of her career. Off the lanes, Verstraete earned her fifth selection to the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team as well as placement on the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll.

2022-23 (Redshirt Junior) 
Verstraete continued to shine as one of NU’s starting team members. Verstraete competed in eight of Nebraska's nine regular-season tournaments. She recorded a season-high game of 278 at the Mid-Winter Invitational with a total pinfall of 1,094 to finish 10th and claim second-team-all tournament honors. Verstraete posted another top 10 performance at the Prairie View A&M Invite with a game high of 227 and a total pinfall of 1,243. 

2021-22 (Sophomore)
Verstraete was one of the nation’s top bowlers, earning All-America honors for the second straight season for the Huskers. A third-team selection, she averaged a team-best 212.04 in traditional play and posted five top-10 finishes in nine tournaments. Verstraete earned runner-up honors at the Columbia 300 Saints Invite with an average of 216.4, one of three top-five finishes on the year.  She was named to the All-Tournament team at the Prairie View Invitational, Columbia 300 Saints Invite and the Big Red Invitational, where she averaged a season-high 228.6. In Baker play, she also topped NU with an average of 20.88 per frame and had strikes on 55.6 percent of her shots.

2020-21 (Redshirt Freshman)
Verstraete had a breakout season as a redshirt freshman, as she was named second-team NTCA All-American and NTCA All-Freshman. Verstraete, averaging 213.00 on the year, made her first career appearance at the Prairie View Invitational to place ninth with an average of 199.00. Building off her performance, Verstraete went on to earn a third place finish at the Big Red Invitational with a season-high average of 233.5. The next week she placed second at the Music City Classic, one of the largest competitions the Huskers went to this season, to bowl a 216.80 over five games. Verstraete was named to the second-team All-Region Central Team and helped lead the team to the NCAA Championship. Off the lanes, Verstraete earned a spot on the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll in the spring of 2021. She was also a member of the 2021 Tom Osborne Citizenship Team. 

2019-20 (Redshirt)
Verstraete redshirted in her first year in the husker program. She performed well in the classroom, earning a spot on the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll in the spring semester. 

Before Nebraska
Verstraete joined the Huskers with an impressive high average of 210 and high series of 777. The two-time Illinois state champion (2017, 2018) not only has a nearly-perfect high game of 299 but was the 2018 U.S. Singles Champion. Verstraete placed sixth individually at the national bowling tournament in 2019. She had previously won the tournament in 2018. She helped her team to national titles in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Personal
The daughter of Michele and Mark Verstraete, Kayla is majoring in criminology and criminal justice and is a three-time Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll selection. She is a four-time member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship team for her community service work.