TEANECK, N.J. – The eighth-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson women's bowling team gets set to take part in the second Northeast Conference meet of the season this weekend in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Knights (61-33) are coming off a third-place finish at the James Brown Invitational this past weekend. FDU went unbeaten in the first portion of the three-day event before suffering two losses on Saturday, but the team rebounded Sunday with back-to-back wins over fellow NEC rivals St. Francis Brooklyn and no. 23 Duquesne to climb up to its third-place finish. Junior Samantha Hart was named to the all-tournament team, averaging 202.8 pins per game in the team's five traditional matches on Saturday and being a major contributor to the lineup in the Knights' Baker team matches as well from the leadoff spot.
 
APPROACHING A MILESTONE
FDU's next victory will be a historic win for head coach Mike LoPresti. The NCAA's all-time leader in wins will have reached his 1,400th career victory at FDU when the Knights earn their next triumph. LoPresti has served as FDU's head coach since the beginning of the program in 2002 and has led the Knights to National Championship wins in 2006 and 2010 as well as a national finalist finish in 2012. His Knights teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 12 of his 16 previous seasons.
 
NEC STANDINGS
This weekend's meet marks the second of two NEC conference meets during the regular season. In the fall meeting, the Knights won two of six Baker matches and finished in sixth place out of seven teams in the league. The Knights matched the records of Sacred Heart and LIU Brooklyn, but the team's pinfall average of 174.7 was lower than both opponents. No. 19 Mount St. Mary's occupies the top spot in the NEC standings entering the spring meet with a 6-0 mark, while no. 11 St. Francis U and no. 23 Duquesne each are ahead of the Knights with four wins. The fall meet combined with the results from this weekend's spring tournament will decide the seeding for the upcoming NEC Championships in Howell, N.J., on March 22-24.
 
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The three-day NEC spring meet will start on Friday with each team partaking in five traditional team matches that includes a bye round. Each team will then play the remaining two opponents they didn't face on Friday in their first two matches Saturday. After a short break, three more Baker total pinfall matches will start Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, the teams play their remaining four Baker total pinfall matches. All of the weekend's matches will take place at Berks Lanes in Sinking Spring, Pa.
 
STRONG COMPETITION
Including the eighth-ranked Knights, six of the seven NEC teams competing this weekend are ranked in the National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25. Behind the Knights in the rankings are no. 11 Saint Francis U, no. 17 LIU Brooklyn, no. 19 Mount St. Mary's, no. 20 Sacred Heart and no. 23 Duquesne, leaving St. Francis Brooklyn as the only non-ranked team in the field.
 
KNIGHTS AGAINST THE NEC
Across the entire season, the Knights have faced their NEC counterparts 20 times this season and have a record of 12-8 against them. The Knights have beaten Saint Francis U and St. Francis Brooklyn four times each (4-0) but only one win apiece against Mount St. Mary's, Sacred Heart, LIU Brooklyn and Duquesne.