CANTON, Mich. – The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's bowling team was eliminated from NCAA Tournament competition with an emotional 4-2 loss to UMES on Friday, April 12 at Super Bowl Lanes.

The Knights conclude the 2012-13 season with a record of 79-40 after going 6-3 in NCAA Championship Tournament play.

“It is never easy being eliminated at this tournament,” Head Coach Mike LoPresti said. “A loss in this situation means your season ends and all of your hopes and dreams for the year are crushed.”

“I'm not disappointed,” LoPresti said. “We peaked at this event and we played at our highest level throughout this tournament. We didn't lose today, we got beat.”

The Knights and Hawks traded wins in the first four games before FDU fell in games five and six. UMES rolled five strikes in the final three frames to earn a 219-199 victory in game one, before FDU strung four strikes midway through game two to take a 222-186 win. The Hawks responded with a string of six strikes in game three and edged FDU, 242-225. The Knights started game four with a six-pin deficit after four frames and then compiled a sequence of six strikes to take the lead and even the match with a 228-149 win. 

In game five, the Knights saw five strikes and nine nine-pin spares for a total score of 215, but the Hawks edged FDU with a score of 224 by staying consistent in scoring and constructing three strikes in the 10th frame.

After battling through five games with UMES, the Knights found themselves on the wrong side of a game that featured eight strikes and no open frames. The Hawks won game six, 258-213, to seal the victory and cut the Knights' chance at their third NCAA national championship.

UMES went on to fall to Vanderbilt University in the semifinal round of play, while Nebraska defeated Arkansas State. Vanderbilt and Nebraska will meet in the NCAA National Championship match on Saturday, April 13 at 8 p.m. The match can be viewed live on ESPN2, with a replay on ESPN at 2 p.m. on Sunday.