Dec. 29, 2006

GLASSBORO, NJ - After three long days of competition, the SHU women's bowling team finished fourth at the FDU Holiday Jamboree after suffering losses in two close final matches.

The day began with three team game matches. The pioneers lost to the University of Maryland - Eastern Shore in match one 946-984. Marissa Gagliardi put a spark in the team in match two by shooting 245 in a 996-745 victory against Coppin State. Jamie Manzo led the team with 225 in the third match for a 975-918 win over Adelphi University.

This concluded the qualifying portion of the tournament. SHU was in third place in pinfall with 9868. New Jersey City University was the #1 seed with 10015, the University of Maryland - Eastern Shore was second with 9998 and Fairleigh Dickinson rounded out the top four bracket with 9791. SHU had the best win-loss record with 9-2 against the eleven teams followed by the University of Maryland - Eastern Shore and Fairleigh Dickinson University with 8-3.

The first match of the brackets put #3 SHU against #2 UMES in a best 3 of 5 baker match. UMES started out strong beating SHU 245-170 in game one and 226-190 in game two. SHU held on taking the next two games 206-203 and 189-169 to even the match at 2-2 and force a fifth game. SHU fell 201-236 in the fifth game for a 2-3 loss.

In the same round, #1 seed NJCU defeated #4 seed FDU. SHU went up against FDU in the second round in the third place match. The match proved to be one of the most exciting of the tournament with all five games decided on the last frame. FDU took game one 217-201. SHU came back with a 207-203 victory with anchor Amanda Lulu converting a ten pin spare for the win. Game three went to FDU 200-193. Amanda Lulu came through again in game four with a ten pin conversion on the fill ball for a narrow 200-192 win. The fifth and deciding game started FDU taking the lead. Juli Martirano struck in the eighth to keep the pioneers alive. Chrissy Onderdonk threw a crucial strike in the ninth to give anchor Amanda Lulu the opportunity to win the match with a double. A perfect shot in the tenth resulted in a strike but a stubborn four pin stood in the way of the win. SHU was defeated 201-209 to give them a fourth place finish.

Two SHU players were named to the all-tournament team: Freshman Marissa Gagliardi and sophomore Jamie Manzo. Marissa finished third with 2623 for 13 games (201.7 average) and Jamie was fifth with 2594 (199.4). Amanda Lulu also made a top 10 appearance with 2556 in ninth place.

The pioneers went 9-4 for the weekend bringing their season record to 24-9.