By BILL SNIER
PARMA HEIGHTS — When Melissa Voytko refers to her bowling life these days, she calls herself a “one-third player.”
“I never expect what’s happening or think it’s even close because I know some people who put in a lot of work,” the 36-year-old Brunswick left-hander said. “I’ve put in a lot of work over the years, but it hasn’t been my focus.”
Instead, her focus is on her 11-year-old daughter Kara’s soccer obsession.
“Bowling is important,” Voytko said, “but my daughter and the things she does and her love for soccer is my time now.”
But the “one-third player” still found time earlier this year to claim her first Ohio Queens title. Then, in June, she followed up with another crown, taking the Hit Dem Pockets Queens.
But even Voytko admitted what she did Sunday may have been her most prestigious accomplishment of all.
The No. 2-seeded Voytko, a technical sales support trainer for Universal Windows Direct, defeated Tour regular Samantha Knight 229-213 in a battle of left-handers to capture her first Professional Women’s Bowling Association title during the PWBA Cleveland Regional at Yorktown Lanes.
“I have no words for this. I always said when I won the Ohio State Queens, I would retire from bowling. And then, I win it this year, which was crazy,” said Voytko, who took home $2,100 in reaching her first PWBA stepladder finals. “Then, I decide to enter the HDP Queens and this because of that.
“Although the Ohio Queens win is my most emotionally invested title because I worked 15 years for it, this is my most prestigious. But the Ohio Queens will always have my heart.”
Voytko, the lone bowler in the 87-player field to throw at least 200 every game (her low was 204 during qualifying), had to face No. 4 seed and friend Summer Jasmin during her opening match.
Using a Roto Grip Hustle PBR, Voytko was able to advance with a 205-162 win despite throwing just four strikes with one double. But she did not have an open frame while Jasmin had three, including missing a pair of 3-6-10 spares and a 3-4-6-7 split — all on the left lane.
“The nerves were there a little bit,” Voytko said. “I’d never been in that situation before. It was nice to bowl against a friend, but it was also hard.”
TITLE MATCH
But Voytko decided to make an equipment change early in the title match against Knight, who was using a Hammer Black Widow urethane on the right lane and a Track Stealth on the left.
“When I hit this pair in qualifying, it was the one pair I felt least comfortable on,” said Knight, a 32 year-old from Muskegon, Mich., who had led qualifying during six of the eight games, eventually finishing 25 pins ahead of Voytko by averaging 221.63.
“The right lane was hooking more in the front and was little tighter down lane. I just couldn’t get my angles away from me so I wanted to play up the lane as much as possible.”
Voytko saw was Knight was doing and made a change of her own — going to a Storm Phaze 2 after starting the title match with a strike, 4-6-7-8-10 split and a 7-pin spare her first three frames.
“When I saw Sam was throwing urethane on the right lane, I started thinking about qualifying and one of the jump made was following (left-hander) Haley (Youker),” Voytko said. “I didn’t have a good look with my first couple of shots. But the Phaze 2 was very predictable and rolled really well then.
“It just popped in my head and I made the switch. Thank God I did.”
While Knight struggled with carry over the next six frames, including leaving a 6-7 split in the eighth, Voytko ran off five strikes in a row after the ball change to build a lead.
But then Knight made another ball change that almost saved her at the end.
Going to a Brunswick Vaporize in the ninth frame, Knight finished with four straight strikes — all solid hits.
“I almost felt like I was throwing the ball uphill. I knew I needed something that would get through cleaner at some point,” Knight said. “The left lane was a little more open and hooked a little more so I knew if I threw reactive, I was going to create more area.
“I needed something controllable and played speed a little bit.”
Voytko converted a 5-8 spare in the ninth and needed a mark in the 10th to secure the win after Knight’s late surge. She doubled to earn the title, getting nine on her final ball.
“I’m not in charge of the pins … I’m in charge of throwing the ball and if it knocked them down, great,” said Knight, who has been battling left-arm pain from a long summer on the PWBA Tour. “I wasn’t going to throw four in a row throwing what I was throwing.”
Voytko was not shaken by the early split in the title match.
“I didn’t think it was that bad of a shot; I was just surprised by the ball reaction,” Voytko said. “But that’s when I started paying attention to what she was throwing. Those first few strikes after that my confidence grew. I knew it was my match to win.”
SPOILS FOR THE WINNER
With the title also comes a trip to Florida for the PWBA Regional Showdown, where she will be seeded into match play as a regional champion. The winner of that event receives free entry into all regular Tour events on the 2025 PWBA schedule.
“It definitely opens a lot of opportunities,” said Voytko, who calls USBC Hall of Famer Jodi Woessner her biggest bowling inspiration. “But, unfortunately, when you become an adult, you have to make good decisions, especially financially. To be able to bowl Tour full-time this would have been the season to do it since everything was drivable for me.
“But not having to pay entry fees is an opportunity.”
Voytko, who averaged 216.43 during qualifying, gave credit to her husband, Tim, for helping with ball decisions.
“Having Tim here was crucial,” Voytko said. “It was nice to be able to bounce ideas off of him. I had to do a lot of that myself before.”
It was Voytko’s parents who paved her path to becoming a champion.
“Dad took me bowling a lot as a kid and my mom worked with me on timing and form,” Voytko added in giving credit to her “team.”
Now as a mother, Voytko is all about watching Kara’s soccer games.
“My daughter is the reason I’m even here,” Voytko said. “We had a conversation and she told me, ‘Mom, this is your dream, go do it.’ ”
She did exactly that … and much more.
PWBA CLEVELAND REGIONAL
(Sunday, at Yorktown Lanes, Parma Heights)
Match 1: Summer Jasmin d. Alyssa Pierson 177-162; Pierson wins $600
Match 2: Melissa Voytko d. Jasmin 205-162; Jasmin wins $800
Championship: Voytko d. Samantha Knight 229-213; Voytko wins $2,100, Knight wins $1,100