ARLINGTON, TEXAS - After an 8-5 start to the spring season at last week's Northeast Winter Classic, No. 15 Fairleigh Dickinson women's bowling (38-26, 3-4 NEC) is on a roll in the Lone Star State as the Knights are two-thirds of the way through the Prairie View A&M Invitational at the International Training and Resource Center in Arlington, Texas.

Before the start of the invitational on Friday, January 28, the Knights took part in 13 team matches over three days from January 21 through January 23 in Deptford, N.J. After knocking off No. 1 Sam Houston, 1078-982 in Baker total pinfall, the Knights would drop back-to-back games against No. 2 McKendree, 1067-921, and No. 10 Stephen F. Austin, 1024-922, before stringing together three-consecutive victories to close out the first day in the same scoring format. Following the loss to the Jacks, FDU would secure a win over No. 5 Vanderbilt, 1001-978, No. 10 Maryville, 1050-985, and fellow Jersey-based school No. 25 Monmouth, 1049-994. Moving to day two, Mike LoPresti's side came up 15 pins short of No. 20 Wisconsin-Whitewater, 1010-995, in traditional scoring but again the Knights would win three-straight, this time against Wilmington (980-939), No. 8 Youngstown State (970-952) and No. 22 Lincoln Memorial (1057-973).

To finish the first weekend of the second semester, FDU would fall to No. 14 Delaware State in Baker match play four games to none and Northeast Conference foe No. 19 Sacred Heart (4-1). The Knights ended the weekend on a high note with a four-game sweep of No. 25 Monmouth.

Graduate student Aimee Sherman, the 2021 NEC tournament Most Valuable Player, led the way with a team-high 63 strikes combined between the two formats. The Jackson, N.J. native also logged a Knights-leading first ball average of 9.30 in traditional scoring and a 9.01 in Baker play behind fellow grad student Amanda Chrzanowski's 9.24.

Heading into this weekend's competition, LoPresti remarked, "We certainly are looking forward to our trip to the International Training and Resource Center (ITRC) in Arlington, Texas this weekend for the Prairie View A&M Invitational. It's an honor to be included in this elite field, that includes the majority of the top teams in country. This event is special because it's operated by a phenomenal host and we get to compete against the best teams in an extraordinary facility. For our program, you really can't anything better than this."

To open up play in Texas, the Knights would fall to the Bearkats again in Baker total pinfall before pulling off yet another upset of Vandy. Falling to No. 6 Arkansas State for the first time this spring, FDU would then go back-to-back over No. 7 Louisiana Tech and the host Panthers. Off to an 0-2 start on Saturday, FDU was bounced by McKendree and the Penguins before closing-out the second day with ranked wins over the Pioneers (964-878), No. 3 Nebraska, the defending national champions, 1043-943 and No. 13 Tulane.

As a team the Knights currently sit in ninth place with a record of 6-4 on 9,857 pins. Chrzanowski sits atop the individual leaderboard in the fifth slot with a weekend average of 223.40 with a day remaining, while based on average teammate redshirt sophomore Julianna Spina comes in second with an average of 231.50 in two games bowled.

FDU is set to compete again live on BowlTV tomorrow, Sunday, January 30, as the Prairie View A&M Invitational continues.

Fans can stay connected with FDU women's bowling on Twitter and Instagram, @FDUKnightsBOWL.