TOWSON, Md. – The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's bowling team went 6-4 through the first two days of competition at the James Brown Invitational hosted by Morgan State University AMFTowson.
The Knights took on Fayetteville State in match one of Friday's quad Baker games. With games of 200, 166, 169 and 181, the Knights defeated FSU 716-684. The Broncos recorded scores of 152, 201, 147 and 183 in the tournament's opening game.
In match two the Knights faced Elmhurst College. Scores of 178, 197, 221 and 188 outlasted Elmhurt's 184, 154, 143 and 155 and enabled the Knights to take a 784-636 win.
The nation's top ranked team, Central Missouri, was the Knights' opposition in game three. Scores of 221, 170, 169 and 200 combined for 760 by FDU, but Central Missouri recorded a team score of 788 with games of 178, 204, 159 and 247 to defeat the Knights.
FDU bounced back with a win over Coppin State in game four. The Knights recorded games of 209, 176, 188 and 179 for a 752, while the Eagles rolled games of 155, 137, 171 and 162 for a 655 team score.
The Knights fell to Norfolk State in the final match of Friday's round. FDU combined for scores of 194, 184, 173 and 142 for a total 693, while the Spartans bowled games of 146, 206, 232 and 172 for a 756.
After the first day of play, the Knights held a tournament record of 3-2 and sat in seventh place in the total pinfall.
Saturday's competition consisted of traditional team games. In the first match the Knights defeated North Carolina A&T 920-857. The Knights were led by high games of 213 from Liat Vizenfeld (Holon, Israel/Campus Kiryat Sharet) and 206 by Danielle McEwan (Stony Point, NY/Stony Point).
In match two the Knights took on Nebraska. After battling to open the match, the Knights could not sustain the lead and fell, 915-859. Michelle Hunzaker (Cary, NC/Green Hope High School) paced the Knights with a 201.
FDU responded with a 953-877 win over North Carolina Central in match four. McEwan's 218 set the standard for the Knights to earn their second win of the day.
The Knights connected two wins together by defeated Livingstone College, 857-629. Freshman Nicolette Sarin (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township High School) led the Knights in the low-scoring affair with a 193.
The final match of the day matched the Knights against Bethune-Cookman. The teams' battled for the win through the 10th frame but the Knights were edged, 938-917 to move to 3-2 on the day. Viznenfeld and McEwan led the team with scores of 214 and 205, respectively.
“Just when I thought we were turning the corner, we took a few steps back,” said Head Coach Mike LoPresti. “We are certainly a better team than we've played like so far. We have been able to start matches well, but have had trouble closing them out.”
At this point, we need to start a new day with a new outlook and go one match at the time.”
The Knights will conclude competition at the James Brown Invitational on Sunday, Feb. 17 with two best-of-seven Baker matches.
