Fairleigh Dickinson women's bowler Melanie Hannon was named the Northeast Conference Bowler and Rookie of the Week, the league announced Wednesday, Feb. 12. She has now won four Rookie of the Week accolades, and collects her first Bowler of the Week award, snapping teammate Liat Vizenfeld's streak of six. The Knights have claimed all seven weekly awards (in as many chances) this season.
Hannon brought a hot hand to the Delaware State Capital City Classic and FDU reaped the benefits. The Knights, who are 35-5 thus far during the season's second half, posted a 10-2 win-loss record as their rookie righty from Western New York was consistently superb during Friday's traditional team competition and Saturday's baker play.
On the way to her first career NEC Bowler of the Week honor, Hannon averaged a meet-high 21.95 pins per frame over the course of 12 matches. Despite battling a challenging lane surface and oil pattern combination, the four-time NEC Rookie of the Week posted a .888 filled frames percentage for the tournament. She made good use of her strike ball throughout the weekend, cashing in on a staggering 58.3 percent of her attempts.
Hannon's 215.5 game average (over the course of six matches) topped the tournament's individual leaderboard. She started her weekend by throwing a team-high 235 game in a victory over tournament host Delaware State, which entered ranked No. 15 in the nation. Hannon later victimized NEC foe Adelphi, the No. 13 team in the latest NTCA Top 20 Poll, by posting a 233-pin performance in an 848-897 win. Hannon heated up even more during Saturday's baker round. Helping the Knights win the day with a perfect 6-0 record, the freshman posted a 22.46 baker frame average.
