EGG HARBOR, N.J. – The eighth-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson women's bowling team started the Monmouth Hawk Flight Invite by winning four of five Baker team matches on Friday.
 
The Knights (71-40) sit in second place after the first day of competition, totaling 4,918 pins for an average of 196.7 pins per game in five matches. Their pin total trailed only no. 2 Vanderbilt among the 18 teams in the tournament field.
 
FDU also finished with the highest single-match total of any team over the course of the day, totaling 1,156 pins in its victory over no. 25 Youngstown State. Sophomore Deborah Epps and freshman Lanasia Neal, who did not play in the previous matches at the start of the day, entered the Baker lineup for that match and helped spark big games for the Knights, who totaled four games of over 200 to power their way to the win.
 
"Overall, we played well, and at times we played far better than we were scoring," head coach Mike LoPresti said at the end of the day. "The big story was that huge set against Youngstown State that was sparked by Deb and Lanasia, who came off the bench and threw a lot of strikes."
 
Senior Amy Caruso and sophomores Amanda Chrzanowski and Aimee Sherman started all five matches for the Knights. Epps and Neal started each of the last three matches, including the win over Youngstown State, while juniors Samantha Hart and Brianna MacLeod got the nod in the first two games of the day.
 
FDU started the tournament with a 937-768 victory over Caldwell, opening up a big lead in the first three games that provided a cushion over the remainder of the match. The Knights started with an opening score of 211 to go up by 72 pins and increased the margin to 153 pins after the third set.
 
The Knights then suffered their lone defeat of the day in their second match, falling 1002-960 to Wilmington. FDU started the match trailing by 57 pins after the first two games, but they rallied in the third frame to cut the deficit to 29. Wilmington, however, played a strong fourth game and ultimately put the Knights out of reach despite FDU winning the final game, 212-201.
 
With the substitutions for the third match, the Knights rebounded with their best effort of the day in the win over Youngstown State. FDU started out with a 48-pin lead after the first frame and then compiled its best individual game score of the day, 268, in the second stanza to add nearly 100 pins to the margin. The Knights finished strong with scores of 214, 236 and 246 and scored higher than Youngstown State in all five games.
 
Against Felician, the Knights ended the first game down by nine pins but then rallied back to score higher in each of the last four games to win 944-845. FDU increased its game totals from 177 to 179 to 190 and then 214 over the final four frames in earning their third victory of the day.
 
The Knights then wrapped up its strong first day with a 921-789 win over Norfolk State. FDU scored back-to-back games of 202 and 211 to go up by 105 pins and then increased their lead in the third game, which provided a comfortable margin to pull out the overall win.
 
FDU switches to traditional team play on Saturday, facing three ranked opponents in Vanderbilt, no. 5 Sam Houston State and no. 6 UMES as well as LIU Post and Bloomfield. Check back here at fduknights.com at the end of the day for further updates.