First block leader Missy Bellinder (Fullerton, Calif.) maintained her lead to earn the No. 1 seed for match play in the 2007 Motor City Classic Women's Series. She will face No. 8 Olivia Sandham (Wichita, Kan.). The top eight women after two seven-game blocks advanced to Friday's Round of 8.

Also advancing were 20-time PWBA titlist Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, who finished second. Liz Johnson (Cheektowaga, N.Y) and Kelly Kulick (Union, N.J.) finished third and fourth, respectively.

Running simultaneously with the Denny’s PBA Tour event is the first-ever PBA Women’s Series event which is sponsored by the USBC. The series features 16 women who will bowl four of the next five events alongside then men, but in separate tournaments. It is the first tour for women since the Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) folded in 2003.

The Round of 8 gets underway at at 2 p.m. followed by the Round of 4 which will determine the two bowlers who will advance to Sunday’s live ESPN-televised finals at 1 p.m. EST. The PBA Women’s Series champion will receive $10,000.

Though she will be competing with her fellow female bowlers four out of the next five weeks, Missy Bellinder knows her experience bowling against the men will come in handy in this year’s Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Women’s Series.

Bellinder took the lead after the first block of the Round of 16 in the first-ever PBA Women’s Series event, finishing the first seven games with a 1,677 seven-game pinfall and a 239.57 average in the 2007 Motor City Classic Women’s Series at Taylor Lanes.

The 25-year-old was the first woman to join the PBA when the Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) folded in 2003. She has gone on to make history bowling against the men, becoming the first woman to win two PBA Regional Tour events.

Bellinder finished 10th in the PBA Women’s Tour Trials this summer, which ran in conjunction with the U.S. Women’s Open, a United States Bowling Congress (USBC) event. The finish gave her one of 16 exemptions for the new PBA Women’s Series, which features four events over the next five weeks, all of which run concurrently with Denny’s PBA Tour events.

"Bowling with the men has definitely helped me," Bellinder (Fullerton, Calif.) said. "The experience I gained in regionals of knowing how the guys break down the lanes and knowing how the lanes transition makes a big difference, especially because we're crossing with them during qualifying."

On Thursday, Bellinder started strong with a 258 but dipped down to a 198 in game two. She then shot 264 and 258 over the next two games but a 185 in game five dropped her back down in the standings. She finished strong with a 236 and a 278 in the final two games to take the lead.

"I'm pretty comfortable out there. I wasn't looking at the scoreboard at all and was just focusing on what I was doing and taking it one shot at a time," Bellinder said. "I've worked hard knowing we only have four tournaments. It's going to be exciting. We have something to bowl in and that's awesome."

Two other women who have made history bowling alongside the men sit second and third in the standings. Liz Johnson, a pioneer who was the first woman to advance to a Denny's PBA Tour event, the first woman to make a championship round in a Denny's PBA Tour event, and the first women to win a PBA Regional Tour event, is second with 1,651.

Kelly Kulick, who last season became the first woman to earn a full-season exemption on the Denny's PBA Tour, is third with 1,649. Johnson (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) and Kulick (Union, N.J.) also won both women's Major events this summer with Kulick taking the USBC Queens and Johnson recently winning the U.S. Women's Open.

Amy Stolz (Castle Rock, Colo.) is fourth with 1,537 while 20-time PWBA champion Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (N. Richland Hills, Texas) is fifth with 1,528.

All 16 bowlers return tonight at 5 p.m. EST for another seven-game block after which the field will be cut to the top 8. The final two will bowl for the $10,000 top prize at Taylor Lanes live on ESPN on Sunday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. EST.

Players with position, hometown and seven-game total

1, Missy Bellinder, Fullerton, Calif., 1,677
2, Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 1,651
3, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 1,649
4, Amy Stolz, Castle Rock, Colo., 1,537
5, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, N. Richland Hills, Texas, 1,528
6, Olivia Sandham, Wichita, Kan, 1,502
7, Stefanie Nation, Miami, 1,473
8, Karen Stroud, Plantation, Fla., 1,442
9, Robin Romeo, Newhall, Calif., 1,393
10, Joy Esterson, Annapolis, Md., 1,387
11, Michelle Feldman, Skaneateles, N.Y., 1,356
12, Tennelle Milligan, Costa Mesa, Calif., 1,337
13, Clara Guerrero, Armenia, Colombia, 1,327
14, Tish Johnson, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1,304
15, Shannon Pluhowsky, Phoenix, 1,289
16, Tiffany Stanbrough, Oklahoma City, 1,225