MT. JOY, Pa. - The No. 20 Fairleigh Dickinson women's bowling team (11-2, 2-1 NEC) opened Northeast Conference play Friday with three matches against No. 17 Duquesne (12-4, 3-3 NEC). The Knights began the afternoon with a traditional scoring match taken by the Dukes, 1,046-973. In the opening match, two FDU bowlers hit above the 200 mark with senior Amanda Chrzanowski finishing with 211 pins and sophomore Cameron Spring taking down 201.

After a difficult start in Baker action for the Burgundy and Blue, the Knights hit their stride winning the final two matches of the afternoon. FDU trailed Duquesne by 16 pins to begin the Baker total pinfall match before taking charge in the final four games and crossing the 200-pin threshold in the final two frames. In Baker match play, the Knights dropped the first game, 180-167, before taking the second and third games but needed a fifth to "seal the deal" in Mt. Joy.

"There's nothing quite like NEC matches. Every season every conference meet is a battle and if you're not playing well, you'll have a long weekend," said Knights head coach Mike LoPresti.

He continued, "While the format we're using is unique because of COVID-19 protocols, the level of intensity hasn't diminished one bit. That's why our performance today was tremendous. We came out ahead against the preseason #1 team [Duquesne], and came from behind in both matches we won, to boot.

"We still have six more of these triple headers including two more this weekend. We'll need to regain the level of play we achieved today for continued success in NEC matches," LoPresti concluded. 

The Knights return to action on Saturday for a three-match affair with Wagner (4-7, 1-5 NEC) beginning at 9 AM on Facebook Live. Fans can watch matches along all-season long on Facebook by searching "FDU Knights Bowling" or by visiting Facebook.com/FDUKnightsWBOWL.