MILLSBORO, Del. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's bowling team sits in fifth place after the first day of competition at the 17-team UMES Hawks Classic. Friday's competition consisted of five rounds of quad baker matches.

The Knights went 4-1 with victories over Hampton (779-531), Monmouth (874-849), Howard (762-641) and New Jersey City (747-448). But sandwiched in between was a loss to the hosts, as UMES defeated FDU, 763-722.

Central Missouri leads a tightly-contested field with 4,047. Next is UMES with 3,943, followed by Kutztown with 3,912. Rounding out the top five is Delaware State (3,901) and the Knights (3,884).

"We are pleased with the results today going 4-1 but not happy with our performance overall," Head Coach Mike LoPresti said.
"We did not fill frames at a rate necessary to beat highly-competitive teams. We were good enough today against the teams that we beat."

Saturday's play will feature four traditional matches for FDU. The Knights will open the second day against Vanderbilt, who is currently ranked No. 2 in the country. Sunday will consist of the playoffs, with best-of-seven baker rounds.

"Tomorrow (Saturday) we need to play better in order to compete at a higher level," LoPresti said.