ARLINGTON, Texas – The seventh-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson women's bowling team began the Prairie View A&M Invitational by winning two of five matches and coming close to winning two more.
The Knights (49-25) bookended their first day of the three-day event with wins in their first and last match of the day. FDU currently sits in seventh place out of 12 teams, totaling 4,652 pins and averaging 186.1 per game in their five matches.
Each of the Knights' three losses came against teams ranked in the top-10 in the NTCA top 25 coaches' poll. Two of their losses were by fewer than 35 pins.
"It's an honor to be included in this field, but at the same time, we didn't hold up our end too well with our level of competition not being up to par today," head coach
Mike LoPresti said after the day. "Our intensity was absent and our execution was inconsistent, and it's not easy to win matches playing that way. We're leaving coy ending the day with a couple of wins."
Sophomore
Amanda Chrzanowski was the only Knight to start all five Baker matches. Senior
Amy Caruso, junior
Samantha Hart and sophomore
Aimee Sherman each started four matches. Sophomore
Jenna Henderson started in all three losses for the Knights, while freshman
Lanasia Neal started in each of the Knights' two wins. Junior
Brianna MacLeod also made two starts.
The Knights started their day with a 890-881 victory over Texas Southern. FDU scored higher in each of the first four games by a combined margin of 72 pins, rolling a high of 208 in the fourth frame. The margin the Knights built up in the first four games greatly benefited them in the last frame, as the Knights rolled a 191 while Texas Southern scored a 254, allowing the Knights to hold on for the overall victory.
FDU next faced fifth-ranked Sam Houston State, falling by a score of 995-885. The Knights only scored better in one of five games, a 211-180 mark in the fourth frame, and got off to a slow start that proved difficult to overcome. Sam Houston State finished with their best score of the day, 221, in the final frame to secure the win.
The Knights then totaled their highest score of the day and the fourth-highest score of any team on the first day, but it was not enough to defeat 10th-ranked Stephen F. Austin, who won 1072-1057. The Knights started with scores of 212, 192, 220 and 242 in totaling higher scores in each of the first four frames. SFA, however, saved their best game for last, closing the margin and overtaking the Knights with a 246-191 final game.
FDU played another close match against sixth-ranked Tulane but fell by a score of 946-913. The Knights went ahead by 77 pins after the first two games, but the Green Wave closed that gap over the next two frames and then scored higher in the fifth game as well to win the match. The Knights rolled a high score of 215 in the third frame.
The Knights ended their day with a victory over tournament host Prairie View A&M, 907-787. FDU started strong by scoring a 223 and taking a nearly 100-pin lead, increased their advantage in the second game, and finished with a 193 to help seal the win. Sophomore
Deborah Epps made her only appearance of the day in the Knights' day-ending win.
FDU plays six traditional team matches next, facing six more ranked teams including each of the top-four teams in the NTCA poll in no. 1 McKendree, no. 2 Nebraska, no. 3 Vanderbilt and no. 4 Arkansas State.
"We certainly look forward to playing in this great field tomorrow where we'll get the chance to play the top-four ranked teams in the country all in one day," LoPresti continued. "It's exactly the reason we work so hard all season long. I'm sure it'll be an amazing day."
