MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – The ninth-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson women's bowling team started the second day of the Northeast Conference with a big victory over Saint Francis U but finished 1-2 on the day.
The Knights (38-18) finished the first of two conference weekends in sixth place out of seven teams, with their 2-4 record matching Sacred Heart and LIU Brooklyn but their pinfall average of 174.7 lower than both teams.
FDU started the day with a 4-3 victory over 13th-ranked Saint Francis U but struggled to build off the momentum of the first-match win in falling to both Duquesne and LIU Brooklyn.
"After a clutch victory to start the day, it was more of the same from a day earlier," head coach
Mike LoPresti said. "Although we closed out the first half poorly, overall the team made positive strides. We can only examine our deficiencies and plan on making improvements that will help us win more matches in the future."
Junior
Brianna MacLeod and sophomores
Amanda Chrzanowski and
Deborah Epps made starts in all three of the best four-of-seven Baker matches, while junior
Samantha Hart and sophomore
Aimee Sherman started each of the first two contests before subbing in during the LIU Brooklyn match.
Sophomore
Jenna Henderson subbed in during the Duquesne match and stayed in the lineup against LIU Brooklyn, and senior
Amy Caruso joined the starting rotation against LIU Brooklyn as well.
The Knights won each of the first two games to start against SFU, but the Red Flash gained those games back to tie the match at 2-2. The teams split the next two games to force a deciding seventh frame, where the Knights picked up a big 183-160 victory to win the match.
Against 20th-ranked Duquesne, the Knights fell into an 0-3 hole before bouncing back with a 201-183 win in the fourth game. The Dukes, however, closed out the match in the fifth game, 185-146, to earn the overall victory by a score of 4-1.
In the final match of the weekend, the Knights split the first two games against 19th-ranked LIU Brooklyn before dropping each of the next two games. FDU remained alive by capturing a 160-149 win in the fifth game, but the Blackbirds put the Knights away in the sixth game to win the match, 4-2.
FDU now enters an extended break into the new year, hosting the FDU Alumni Meet on Saturday, January 12, at Lodi Lanes before returning to play the following weekend in the Kutztown Invitational from January 18-20.
