CORAM, N.Y. - No. 8 Fairleigh Dickinson women's bowling went 7-6 against teams from across the nation this past weekend at the Dezy Strong Classic, hosted by No. 25 Adelphi at Coram Country Lanes. FDU competed in 13 matches over three days (five Friday, five Saturday, three Sunday) in this season-opening event for the Knights.

Mike LoPresti's side finished a perfect 5-0 on day one in Baker total pinfall action with the Burgundy and Blue notching victories against three ranked teams in No. 16 Tulane, 972-824, No. 4 Vanderbilt, 996-970, and No. 7 Youngstown State, 872-869. The Knights also walked away with wins against Molloy, 936-847, and Felician, 908-828.

Moving to day two of the three-day event, the Knights took part in five traditional scoring games beginning with a bout against Stephen F. Austin. FDU was led by graduate student Jenna Henderson's 223 in a 948-924 loss, the Knights' first of the season. In the second match, again facing No. 22 Prairie View A&M, three Knights would cross the 200 mark with graduate student Aimee Sherman, the 2020-21 Northeast Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player, leading the way with a 221, followed by redshirt sophomore Julianna Spina's 215 and graduate student Amanda Chrzanowki's 201. Taking on the University of Alabama at Birmingham for the third contest of day, it was Chrzanowski who posted the team-high mark of 200 in an 892-896 defeat edged out by the Dragons.

Seeing conference foe No. 23 LIU for the first time this season, Henderson posted a 206 followed by Chrzanowksi and junior Cameron Spring who bowled 195 and 193, respectively, as the Sharks took a two-pin victory with the Knights dropping their fourth bout of the day 960-958. LoPresti's side closed out the afternoon in the Empire State with a 975-866 victory over Bloomfield in which Sherman rolled a 227 to boast the Burgundy and Blue. She was followed by Spring who finished two pins shy of her mark.

Closing out the event on Halloween were three Baker match play (best four-out-of-seven) matches with began with another test against No. 23 LIU. FDU would drop the first two matches of the day against NEC teams 4-2, and 4-1 in the second bout against Mount St. Mary's. FDU lone match play win would come in the nightcap against No. 22 Prairie View A&M by a 4-1 tally.

"This was a tremendous weekend for our team, mainly because we finally got an opportunity to compete in a three-day 13-match NCAA event for the first time since March of two seasons ago." said LoPresti. "The return to normalcy was exactly what we desired and greatly needed."

LoPresti continued, "While we came up short on our expectations, considering that it was our first competition of the season, it still proved to be a positive experience. It was a weekend that was chock full of highs and lows. We had big wins and tough losses. We had an unfortunate string of three defeats where we lost by nine pins, six pins and two pins, respectively. That's less than a mark each time. Those type of defeats are devastating, especially three-straight. Yet, we showed resiliency by winning the final match of day two following those losses, as well as the final match on day three after two disappointing playoff round losses. I'm proud of how we were able to overcome those adverse situations, especially how we ground it out when the lane conditions became tough and how we battled in every match to the last frame."

"Now we'll take a couple of days off to recover, catch up on some school work and fulfill our civic duties on Election Day. Then we'll get back to work and prepare for the challenging NEC meet this upcoming weekend," he concluded.

FDU will get their first crack at the conference field on November 6 and 7 when the Knights bowl in the first league meet of the season in North Brunswick, N.J. at Bowlero Carolier Lanes.

Fans can followed FDU women's bowling on Twitter and Instagram, @FDUKnightsBOWL, and on Facebook, @FDUKnightsWBOWL.