Jan. 27, 2008

LAUREL, MD - In the first day of competition, the Sacred Heart University women's bowling team went 5-0 in head-to-head matches at the Bowie State Invitational. In tournament standings, which are based upon total pinfall, the Pioneers sit in third place with 4065 only 53 pins out of first. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore is first with 4118 followed by Fairleigh Dickinson University's 4076.

In the first 4-game baker match of the day, the SHU keglers started out strong with the first eight strikes to finish with a season high baker game of 254. They finished that match with a 858-833 victory over Morgan State University. The next match was a 788-645 win against Howard University.

Match three was a big match against #3 ranked University of Maryland Eastern Shore. After three games, the match was tied at 624. In game three, UMES took the early lead with a triple while SHU suffered two opens in the first half. When UMES stropped striking in frame six, SHU took charge throwing a triple to keep themselves in the match. UMES final frame was a split that resulted in an open giving SHU the chance to win. In her first appearance in anchor position this season, junior Jamie Manzo threw two clutch strikes in the tenth to win the match by three pins!

The Pioneers continued with a 755-654 win over Hampton University then finished strong with an 842-588 victory over North Carolina Central to finish the day 5-0 and move them up to third in overall standings.

This brings the women's bowling team's season record to 41-10. Competition resumes at 9:00 AM tomorrow morning. A long day is ahead with six hours of six team game matches.