COLUMBUS, Ohio - Fairleigh Dickinson women's bowling's run in the 2022 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship came to a close Friday as the Knights went 0-2 in the double-elimination championship bracket, falling 2-1 to Vanderbilt in the opening match and 2-0 to McKendree, the top seed in the tournament, in the contender's bracket in the afternoon session.

FDU's improbable run to the Championship came from a slew of wins late in the campaign, including a sweep of the Rochester Regional field, culminating with a win over #2 Nebraska to secure a slot in the Final Four.

One of the most exciting matches of the season, FDU and Vanderbilt exchanged blows at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl in a game that went the distance, advancing to the best-of-seven Baker match play format. In traditional play, the Commodores enjoy a one-pin lead after the first frame which was wiped away by FDU's starters in the second off a line that led off with a strike by junior Cameron Spring, followed by crucial pins knocked down by graduate student Aimee Sherman, redshirt sophomore Julianna Spina who contributed a nine-ball and finished off the single-pin spare and back-to-back fills by First Team All-NEC bowler graduate student Jenna Henderson and Honorable Mention All-American fifth-year Amanda Chrzanowski.

Down 14 pins heading to the fifth frame of the opening format, Spina stepped up to complete the turkey, in the third, fourth and fifth, after beginning her morning with a pair of spares. Spina's line help propel the Knights to within 10 pins of the Commodores halfway through the battle. Finishing tied at an even 957 after the 10th frame, the two sides battled in a modified Baker tiebreaker which was won by Vanderbilt, 107-87.

Moving to the second format of the best-of-three Mega Match, the Knights came up swinging to a 184-170 lead in Baker total pinfall in a match that saw senior Lanasia Neal moved into the lineup. After the second game FDU enjoyed a 23-pin advantage which turned into a 1,035-911 victory three games later. Spring was unstoppable in the 10 frames, bowling eight strikes to power FDU to even the match at one-point all. 

Coming down to the final Baker match play point the Burgundy and Blue showed their hunger for the third national championship in program history, winning each of the first two games before dropping the third, winning the fourth, falling in the fifth and tying the sixth, leaving FDU with a 3.5-2.5 lead. Needing another tiebreaker, FDU would fall in their second of the day, 137-84, to fall into the contender's bracket, setting-up a matchup with McKendree, the top seed in the tournament who fell to Stephen F. Austin in the morning session.

Against the Bearcats, FDU struggled to gain momentum, falling 2-0, in a match that showed spurts of potential. Chrzanowski was flying in traditional play to keep FDU in the match, striking in five of her last eight frames bowled as the Knights head down the stretch in traditional. In Baker total pinfall, the Bearcats put the match out of reach in the fourth game enjoying a 134-pin advantage. Chrzanowski shined in the individual standings, sitting fifth with a frame average of 20.95 pins per frame. Rolling 30 strikes in 56 attempts, the Second Team All-NEC bowler struck in 53.6 percent of her attempts. The Schenectady, N.Y. native went a perfect 18-for-18 in makeable spare attempts. 

McKendree later advanced and will face Stephen F. Austin in the Championship Final on Saturday, April 16, at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.