STRATFORD, N.J. – The 17th-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson women's bowling team notched the three wins it needed to clinch a Northeast Conference Championships bid, defeating all three conference opponents faced on the final day of the NEC Spring Meet.
The Knights (49-33) needed to win at least two of the matches in order to lock up the team's league-record 11th straight tournament bid, and the third win of the day allowed FDU to lock up the fourth seed in the upcoming championship hosted March 20-22 at Hamilton Lanes in Hamilton, N.J.
"I'm extremely proud of our team and how we played today," head coach
Mike LoPresti said. "This was the most important weekend of our season, and while we didn't start off well, we surely finished the best way possible by closing with four straight wins. Beating two of the three top seed were clutch and proves we can rise to the occasion."
FDU defeated no. 25 LIU, 4.5-2.5, no. 14 Mount St. Mary's, 4-1, and then Saint Francis U, 4-0, for its three wins. The Knights totaled 2,874 pins on the day, averaging 179.6 pins per game. Across the two-day weekend, FDU averaged 181.3 pins per game in six matches, collecting a total of 6,345 pins.
Senior
Samantha Hart, juniors
Amanda Chrzanowski and
Aimee Sherman and freshman
Cameron Spring started all four matches, with junior
Deborah Epps playing in all three matches as well with two starts. Sophomore
Lanasia Neal started FDU's match against LIU, with junior
Jenna Henderson also subbing in for that match. The lineup of Spring, Epps, Chrzanowski, Sherman and Hart at anchor powered the Knights to the wins in each of the last two matches of the day.
FDU started its big day against the 25th-ranked Sharks, winning the first game 193-176 but dropping the next two to go down 2-1. The Knights then rallied for a 175-164 win in the fourth game and gained the lead back with a 198-135 victory in game five. The two teams then tied the sixth game at 171, leading to a decisive seventh game that saw the Knights prevail 181-145 to clinch the win.
The Knights then carried their momentum from the first victory into their start against no. 14 Mount St. Mary's, jumping out to a 3-0 lead against the Mountaineers with wins of 170-145, 180-177 and 210-141. The Mountaineers stayed alive with a win in game four, but the Knights then ended the match with a big 179-155 victory, sealing FDU's playoff berth in the process.
FDU then capped off its day with a sweep of Saint Francis U, jumping out to a big lead with games of 167-128, 198-144 and 194-189, before putting the finishing touches on a perfect day with a 183-181 victory in the fourth game.
The Knights compete again next weekend at the Monmouth Hawk Flight Invite, starting the three-day tournament on Friday, February 28 at Hamilton Lanes, the site of the NEC Championships.
