MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The ninth-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson women's bowling team picked up three more wins in the second day of the UWW Warhawk Classic on Saturday, including two wins over ranked opponents.
The Knights (25-9) defeated 14th-ranked Lincoln Memorial and third-ranked Nebraska as well as Youngstown State in three of their traditional team matches. Both losses on the day were also against ranked opponents, including no. 2 McKendree and no. 19 LIU Brooklyn.
"We certainly performed at a higher level for most of the day, especially with how we closed out the day with the win," head coach
Mike LoPresti said after the day ended. "Now we'll need to carry that performance level forward to tomorrow's playoff rounds."
Senior captain
Amy Caruso rolled a 194.0 average for the day and improved as the day progressed, scoring in order at 170, 191, 201, 204 and again recording a 204 against Nebraska.
Junior
Samantha Hart and sophomore
Aimee Sherman also scored in all five matches for the Knights, with the two of them never scoring below 178 over 20 frames. Hart achieved a high score of 204 against Lincoln Memorial, while Sherman rolled her best game of the day against McKendree (202).
Both junior
Brianna MacLeod and sophomore
Deborah Epps stepped up in big roles for FDU. The duo scored two of the highest games of the day, both of which came against third-ranked Nebraska in helping the Knights defeat the Big-Ten powerhouse.
Against NEC-rival LIU Brooklyn, the Knights averaged 174.0 over the five games, with Hart rolling a team-best 194. The Blackbirds, however, came away with the 949-870 victory.
The Knights shrugged off the loss in their next match by averaging 208.0 with three games over 200 in a 1,040-986 win over Lincoln Memorial. Sophomore
Amanda Chrzanowski rolled the best score for the Knights with a 253, while Hart finished with a 204, and Epps, who subbed in for MacLeod in the 10th frame of the previous match, added a 202.
Caruso's 201 and solid play from Sherman, Hart, Chrzanowski and Epps helped the Knights to earn their second victory of the day, 922-880 over Youngstown State.
A tough McKendree squad awaited the Knights in their fourth match, and despite a strong effort, the Knights fell 1024-962. Epps (207), Caruso (204) and Sherman (202) all rolled over 200, and the Knights trailed by only nine pins entering the fifth game. MacLeod took over for Chrzanowski in the eighth frame of her game to try to spark a rally but came up just short.
MacLeod played a major role in helping the Knights end the day with their biggest win, a 1,091-1025 over third-ranked Nebraska. She started the match with four straight strikes for the Knights, finishing out her game with a 246. Caruso and Sherman each topped 200 again, and Epps closed out the match with the best game of the day, scoring a 257 to secure the victory for FDU over the Big Ten opponent.
"I'm really proud of the team stepping up after suffering a tough loss the round earlier to McKendree," LoPresti said. "We didn't rally and they did. We could have folded right there, but instead it motivated us to that big final match. Bri MacLeod sparked us off the bench, and Deb Epps proved to be our top player of the day, coming off the bench to start match 2 and continuing her consistent play, putting it all together vs. Nebraska with a huge 257 closer."
The day ended with the Knights sitting in 12th place out of 18 teams. FDU can finish as high as ninth place with three playoff best-of-seven Baker wins on Sunday. The Knights play a rematch with Youngstown State in the opening round Sunday, and a win would pit them against the loser of the LIU Brooklyn-Lincoln Memorial match. A loss would drop the Knights down to face either Central Missouri or Valparaiso.
Check back here at fduknights.com for further updates following play on Sunday.
