Lexis Ortiz

Lexis Ortiz's bowling journey began long before college competition, awards, or perfect games. She first stepped onto the lanes at about five or six years old, when her father enrolled her in a Saturday junior league at Country Lanes. As she got older, bowling quickly grew beyond recreation, and she began entering individual tournaments and developing the natural ability that would eventually carry her through high school and into collegiate bowling.

Lexis met Vinny D'Ambrosio III while attending Tottenville High School, where she bowled from 2013 through 2017. What started as her father asking Vinny to take a look at her game turned into years of coaching and mentorship. Lexis already had ability, confidence in her equipment, and enough talent to compete successfully; what she didn't yet have was a full understanding of why things happened on the lane. As she puts it, "Before meeting Vinny, I was a bowler with skill but no knowledge."

Vinny began changing that, teaching her to understand oil patterns rather than simply react to them, showing her how to use different parts of the lane, and helping her learn to make adjustments instead of relying on one comfortable look. He also helped her move past the security of the ball she had thrown her first 300 game with, so her ability wasn't contained inside a single piece of equipment.

During her Tottenville career, Lexis developed into one of New York City's accomplished young bowlers, earning honors that included a 2015 Staten Island Advance All-Star selection, the 2015-2016 Youth Female High Series Award, a fifth-place finish at the 2016 PSAL NYC Girls Individual Championship, a Clash of Champions title, and a 300 game while leading the PSAL in average. When the school season ended, the work didn't; Lexis kept meeting Vinny for one-on-one training between matches and trophies, building the foundation for the next level of her career.

Lexis went on to bowl for St. Francis College from 2017 through 2022, moving into an environment where execution alone was no longer enough. Collegiate bowling demanded versatility across different lane patterns, formats, Baker competition, team strategy, and the mental ability to recover when things didn't go according to plan. During college breaks and whenever her schedule allowed, Lexis kept returning to the bowling center to work, arriving when the doors opened and staying for hours of push-away drills, foul-line drills, and spare shooting.

That work translated into continued development at the NCAA level, including a 2022 Co-Most Valuable Player honor at St. Francis, a 2020 Co-Most Improved Player honor, a top-ten national ranking in strike percentage among leadoff bowlers, and a top-three national ranking in Baker double-percentage attempts. Vinny also continued to push her mental game, reminding her that her physical ability could take her a long way, but overthinking and self-imposed pressure could get in the way of accessing it.

Lexis last competed regularly in league bowling during the 2023-2024 season, carrying an average in the 190s. She is currently away from active competition but intends to return, and when she does, it will be as a bowler who understands patterns, transition, versatility, equipment, and the mental discipline that comes with putting in hours of work when nobody is keeping score. As Lexis puts it, "Vinny broke the game down for me. He is the reason I became the player I did."

As a VD3 Collegiate Alumni Athlete, Lexis represents the full arc of the VD3 philosophy: a talented young bowler who became a knowledgeable, versatile competitor, and one of the athletes who reminded Vinny why he started teaching the game in the first place.