BATON ROUGE, La. - With many of the world's top players in Baton Rouge for the upcoming United States Bowling Congress Queens and USBC Senior Queens, the Diamond Division standings at the USBC Women's Championships is getting a new look each day.

Each Diamond Division event - team, doubles, singles and all-events - got a new leading score Monday at the Raising Cane's River Center, which will host the Queens from May 17-23. The Senior Queens will be held at nearby Circle Bowl from May 23-26.

The Big Ticket 1 of Columbia, South Carolina, cruised to the top spot in the Diamond Team standings, besting the previous number by nearly 250 pins on its way to a 2,650 total. World Cup Bowling Academy of Tampa, Florida, led with 2,404.

Led by Jennifer King's 741 series, The Big Ticket 1 rolled games of 897, 842 and 911 to take the lead. King was joined in the effort by Daphne Smith (688), Michelle Smith (668) and Kayla Bandy (553).

Although the group came together on the championship lanes for the first time Monday, they quickly relied on previous experiences competing with, and against, each other throughout the years to find a rhythm from the start.

"Even though it's our first time together here, we bowl a lot of the same tournaments back home, and I've bowled with Kayla since I was 15," said King, a former Junior Team USA and Team USA member. "We came here with one goal - to bowl well and have fun - and we were able to do that."

The Big Ticket 1 now will eagerly wait and see if its number will withstand many of the top teams that will come to compete before and after the Queens.

"I feel like it's a good number, and I hope it holds up," said King, who made her first Women's Championships appearance. "It would be amazing to take home a title with this group, especially since this is my first time bowling the event. We'll have to wait and see what happens."

Although they fell out of the top spot in the Diamond Team standings, the members of World Cup Bowling Academy left with the lead in Diamond Doubles, Singles and All-Events.

Hayley Veitch of Kenner, Louisiana (626), and the Dominican Republic's Aumi Guerra (693) struck first as they moved into the Diamond Doubles lead with a 1,319 total. Veitch, a native of England, kept the momentum going into singles and snuck into the top spot with a 660 set.

The Diamond All-Events lead went to Megan Kelly of Dayton, Ohio, who used sets of 695 in doubles, 646 in team and 646 in singles to take the lead with a 1,987 total.

Keosha Moore of Walker, Louisiana, and Kateri Celestin of New Orleans previously held the lead in Diamond Doubles with 1,243, while 2016 Ruby Doubles champion Andrea Sharp of Stafford, Virginia, held the top spot in Diamond Singles with 657. Katie Thompson of Tampa, Florida, led Diamond All-Events with 1,867.

"We just met in the team event, but we bowled well and developed a nice chemistry," said Guerra, the 2010 and 2011 QubicaAMF World Cup champion. "We were able to carry that into doubles and really just wanted to have fun, so there was no added pressure. I'm here for Queens, so to bowl well at Nationals is gravy. We got along great and made some really good shots to get there."

Veitch, who just finished her sixth season as the head coach of the women's bowling team at Tulane University in New Orleans, used games of 209, 230 and 221 to get to the top spot.

"My main key was finding some good ball reaction," said Veitch, who helped Webber International win the 2010 Intercollegiate Team Championships in El Paso, Texas. "Once you have that, you get a little loose and enjoy yourself. It also helps bowling with these three awesome ladies who are so accomplished, which really helped me relax and have fun. It's nice to be able to bowl well right before Queens, and I hope the scores continue."

Kelly, a 2015 Diamond Team champion, returned to the top of the all-events standings after making a memorable run at title at the 2012 Women's Championships in Reno, Nevada, where she ultimately finished fourth in Scratch All-Events and sixth in the Diamond Division.

"There was a little bit of out of bounds, so I tried to not give away the headpin and take advantage when I was able to throw a couple of strikes together," said Kelly, who fired a 2,168 all-events total at the National Bowling Stadium in 2012, which included a 299 game in the team event. "Again, it came down to having some really good team chemistry. We all had a blast, laughed and joked, and we communicated on what was happening on the lanes. When you have all of that, you're going to bowl better. I'm pretty happy with my number. I think it'll get beat in the end, but it could hold up for a little while."

Guerra and Veitch followed Kelly in the all-events standings, moving into second and third place with scores of 1,908 and 1,906, respectively.

Diamond Team includes four-player teams with a combined entering average of 725 and above. Diamond Doubles features pairs with combined entering averages of 380 and above, while Diamond Singles and Diamond All-Events consists of bowlers with entering averages of 180 and above.

The Emerald All-Events standings also saw a new name at the top as Rhonda Acitelli of Villa Park, Illinois, used a big team set to catapult her to the lead with a 1,737 total. Melinda Keeney of Pueblo, Colorado, previously led with 1,660.

Acitelli, a 52-year-old right-hander, got off to a fast start at the River Center, rolling a 674 series in her team event, and she added sets of 568 in singles and 495 in doubles.

Acitelli made her 25th Women's Championships appearance this week in Baton Rouge, and she set personal bests on the championship lanes with her team and all-event scores. Her previous high marks took place at the 1998 event in the Quad Cities, posting a 602 series in doubles on her way to a 1,713 all-events total.

"I've never bowled a 700 series in my life, and that easily was one of the best series I've ever bowled," said Acitelli, who bowls regularly at Stardust Bowl in Addison, Illinois. "The scores always seem like they're high, and it definitely was tougher this year. I feel like I do better on harder conditions throwing a straight ball, and I don't have to make a lot of changes like others seem to do."

Acitelli's team effort also pushed her team, Friendly Mixers from Villa Park, into second place in Emerald Team with a 1,911 total. The Rose Buds of Danville, Kentucky, lead Emerald Team with 1,961, rolled on the tournament's opening night.

The 2017 Women's Championships kicked off April 23 and will run until July 10.

Emerald Team includes four-player teams with combined entering averages of 575-649, and Emerald All-Events features bowlers with entering averages of 160-174.

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