CANTON, Mich. – The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's bowling team responded from an early loss to stay alive at the NCAA National Championship tournament on Friday, April 12 at Super Bowl Lanes. The Knights fell to Vanderbilt, 4-2, in the first best-of-seven Baker match before defeating Sam Houston State, 4-2, with elimination on the line.
The Knights advance in the double-elimination bracket to play fifth-seed UMES in the first evening block. A loss to the Hawks will end the season, while a win will pit the Knights against Vanderbilt to continue the quest for the third National Championship.
As the #2 seed, the Knights faced #7, Vanderbilt University, in a best-of-seven Baker match. The Commodores handed FDU one of its two losses in the first day of competition.
With a lineup of Brianna Carlo (Dumont, NJ/Dumont), Rebecca Fischer (Pittsburgh, Pa./Northgate High School), Nicolette Sarin (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township High School), Liat Vizenfeld (Holon, Israel/Campus Kiryat Sharet) and Danielle McEwan (Stony Point, NY/Stony Point), the Knights battled through the opening frames but saw Vandy use a triple to gain the edge. With the score, 226-191, the Knights fell behind, 1-0.
FDU responded in game two with a close call. An open from by VU enabled FDU to take the lead in the 10th frame and paved the way for FDU to win game two, 186-171, to even the match at 1-1.
Vanderbilt strung strikes together in the third game to produce a score of 224. McEwan led FDU with strikes in the 10th, but it could not edge the Commodores and fell, 224-200.
In game four, the Knights mounted a strong comeback with a convincing 231-146 win to even the match at two games each.
The Commodores used late open frames by FDU to take a 226-184 lead in game five and go ahead, 3-2. With the match on the line, Vanderbilt rolled three-consecutive strikes early in the game to take the initial lead. FDU fought through the 10th frame but could not catch Vandy, who won, 202-174, to take a 4-2 win in the match.
After falling to Vanderbilt, the Knights were pitted against third-seed Sam Houston State University in the second round.
Carlo, Michelle Hunzaker (Cary, NC/Green Hope High School), Sarin, Vizenfeld and McEwan compiled seven strikes in game one to take a 227-166 win and go ahead 1-0 to start the match.
The Knights went ahead 2-0 after five consecutive strikes to end the game gave the team a total 205, compared to SHSU's 178.
In game three, the Bearkats rolled strikes in four of five frames midway through the game to take the lead. The Knights recorded just one open frame but could not catch the Bearkats' score. SHSU took game three, 201-195, to bring the series to 2-1.
The teams bowled identical spares in the opening frames of game four before the Knights saw a strike from McEwan in the fifth frame. The Knights finished with three more strikes to earn a 214-193 win and take a 3-1 lead.
The Knights went ahead early in game five, with just one win needed to move on, but found themselves neck-and-neck with the Bearkats as the game concluded. Sam Houston State edged FDU in the 10th frame to take a 181-179 victory and bring the match to a sixth game.
After an open in frame one, the Knights locked in for nine strikes in game six. The high-scoring affair gave FDU a 247-197 win, enabling the team to take the match, 4-2.
The win kept FDU alive in the double-elimination bracket and situated them to face UMES in April 12th's evening session. Live video of the evening round can be seen at NCAA.com.
