Breidegam joins her sister at Delaware State
Once she visited the Delaware State campus with her sister before the pandemic, Emily Breidegam knew immediately where she wanted to bowl in college.
Breidegam, a Gov. Mifflin senior, has committed to Delaware State, where her sister, Alyssa, and former Mustangs teammate Emily Garl compete for the Hornets.
“I actually wanted to go there before Alyssa did,” Breidegam said. “Soon after we toured the campus, Alyssa and I had a very similar reaction. We loved the atmosphere. We loved how friendly and inviting the team was. You could tell the team was connected.
“Alyssa and I just looked at each other and thought, ‘We belong here.’ “
Breidegam enjoyed an outstanding high school career for Mifflin, capping it by winning the Pennsylvania girls singles championship last month. She placed fourth in the BCIAA tournament, sixth in District 3 and seventh in the Eastern PA Regional.
She was a three-time All-Berks selection and won the district and regional titles as a junior.
She will join a team that has qualified for the 16-team United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Team Women’s National Championship next month in Wyoming, Mich. It’s the premier event in college bowling.
Garl, a Delaware State sophomore, won the high school state singles title in 2018. Alyssa Breidegam, a Hornets freshman, helped Mifflin finish second in the Eastern PA Regional team tournament and qualify for states as a senior.
Emily Breidegam helped the Mustangs win the Berks and regional crowns and place second in the state team tournament this year. She said knowing she’d be teammates with her sister and Garl influenced her decision.
“Alyssa was a big factor in my decision,” she said. “Her being on the team makes me feel 10 times more comfortable. And Garl, too. We’re friends. I’m so excited to be with her (Alyssa) next year because I miss her so much.”
Breidegam plans to major in business analytics at Delaware State.
“I’m a big business person,” she said. “I have been since I started taking business classes my freshman year. I really fell in love with the business side of things. I’m in a class now at Mifflin where we actually created our own business from the ground up.”
Elysia Current is in her sixth year as the Hornets coach after an outstanding college career at Wichita State and a brief professional career.
“Not only is she very good with your physical game,” Breidegam said, “but she is an empowering mental coach. That’s very, very important when it comes to bowling. She can really help me with that. That’s where she’s going to take me to the next level.”