MILLSBORO, DE (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The nationally No. 8 ranked New Jersey City University women's bowling team assembled its second consecutive perfect day and was the lone school out of 20 to win all five matches it played as the Gothic Knights extended its winning streak to 10 in a row after day one of the three-day Eastern Shore Hawk Classic, hosted by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. All five matches were quad-Baker total pinfall contests.
NJCU, coming off a 7-2 weekend at the first Northeast Conference event last week, improved to 19-8 on the season—a .704 winning percentage.
On another sensational day, NJCU crushed Bowie State University, 805-705 before securing an important win over No. 5 University of Central Missouri, winning by a tight margin of 757-752. The Knights followed the win over the Jennies with a 792-662 rout of Howard University. The Knights improved to 4-0 on the day with a 742-715 decision against No. 19 ranked Norfolk State University.
The final match featured the lone remaining unbeaten schools in the field, and NJCU improved to 2-0 all-time against upstart first-year program Sam Houston State University, prevailing 764-735.
Despite the 5-0 record, NJCU is in seventh place among 20 teams in the team standings determined by total pinfall—just 87 pins out of the top spot.
Sacred Heart University leads with 3,949 pins and a 3-2 record—six ahead of St. Francis College (NY) (3,943, 4-1). Stephen F. Austin University is third (3,925, 4-1), Central Missouri is fourth (3,914, 2-3) and Sam Houston State is fifth (3,911, 4-1), followed by host and No. 2 ranked Maryland Eastern Shore (3,884, 3-2) and NJCU. Delaware State is eighth behind the Knights with 3,840 pins (2-3).
In a competitive field, two of the top four ranked programs in the country are not among the leaders. No. 1 ranked Fairleigh Dickinson University is in 10th place (3,685, 4-1) and No. 4 Vanderbilt University is 11th (3,676, 2-3). No. 9 Kutztown University is in 14th place with a 4-1 record.
In all five Baker matches, NJCU used an identical starting lineup featuring junior AMY BREHM (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) as the leadoff bowler, followed by freshman NICOLE BAGINSKY (South River, NJ/Cardinal McCarrick), sophomore lefty KELLY DAUNNO (Carteret, NJ/Carteret), junior JENNIFER DAUNNO (Carteret, NJ/Carteret), and reigning NCAA Division III National Player of the Year, senior NICOLE DREJERWSKI (Levittown, PA/Conwell-Egan Catholic), in the anchor slot.
Head coach FRANK PARISI summarized his team's performance by saying: “we bowled well enough to win. We were consistent and that was the key in every match. We made our spares and that is what's going to make the difference. There's still room for improvement. We need to come out tomorrow and do better.”
NJCU opened the day against Bowie State and for the seventh consecutive meeting since 2007, defeated the Bulldogs. NJCU, which won by 100 pins, put the match away quickly with a 214-227 opening pair, before adding games of 187-177. Bowie tossed game scores of 176-182-181-156.
In the first meeting between NJCU and the fifth-ranked Jennies since the Knights ousted Central Missouri from the 2010 NCAA Championship, NJCU won the opening game 198-164 before UCM claimed the next two games 216-199 and 200-181 for a two-pin, 580-578 cushion heading into the final game. NJCU did just enough to win, taking the game 179-172, and sealing a five-pin, 757-752 decision. The Knights are 6-5 against Central Missouri since 2007.
The Knights have dominated Howard in the history of the series and NJCU tossed a 235 in game three for a four-game set of 195-192-235-172 to defeat the Bison by 132 pins, winning 794-662. Howard had scores of 148-202-171-141. NJCU is 2-0 against Howard this year and 12-1 in the last four seasons.
In the fourth match against No. 19 Norfolk State, NJCU owned a decisive 580-503 lead after three games and despite its lowest score of the day in the fourth game (162), claimed the match, 742-715. NJCU had a four-game set of 203-197-180-162; the Spartans rolled 167-201-135-212. The Knights are 8-1 all-time against NSU.
In the final match, NJCU and Sam Houston met with one team guaranteed to finish the day unblemished, and while the Bearkats have proven to not be a typical first-year program, the Knights posted their second win in as many meetings this season. NJCU tossed a 194-220 to open the match and led 414-381 at the midway point before completing the 5-0 daily effort with a 764-735 decision. The Knights had game scores of 194-220-181-169. Sam Houston tossed games of 180-201-184-170.
When asked why so many top teams struggled on the opening day of the tournament, Parisi explained how competitive the sport of NCAA bowling has become. “There seems to be much more parity in the NCAA this year. There are many more quality teams now.”
NJCU will seek to extend its winning streak on day two of the tournament on November 20, beginning at 8:30 a.m. when the Knights will play five traditional team games. NJCU meet #4 Vanderbilt, unranked Texas Southern University, No. 11 Valparaiso University, No. 14 ranked and fellow Division III member University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Stephen F. Austin in its five matches.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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QUADRUPLE BAKER GAMES
|
PINFALL
|
GAMES
|
AVG.
|
W/L/T
|
|
NJCU
|
214
|
227
|
187
|
177
|
805
|
0.8
|
1006.25
|
W
|
|
Bowie State
|
176
|
182
|
191
|
156
|
705
|
0.8
|
881.25
|
|
|
NJCU
|
198
|
199
|
181
|
179
|
757
|
0.8
|
946.25
|
W
|
|
Central Missouri
|
164
|
216
|
200
|
172
|
752
|
0.8
|
940
|
|
|
NJCU
|
195
|
192
|
235
|
172
|
794
|
0.8
|
992.5
|
W
|
|
Howard
|
148
|
202
|
171
|
141
|
662
|
0.8
|
827.5
|
|
|
NJCU
|
203
|
197
|
180
|
162
|
742
|
0.8
|
927.5
|
W
|
|
Norfolk State
|
167
|
201
|
135
|
212
|
715
|
0.8
|
893.75
|
|
|
NJCU
|
194
|
220
|
181
|
169
|
764
|
0.8
|
955
|
W
|
|
Sam Houston State
|
180
|
201
|
184
|
170
|
735
|
0.8
|
918.75
|
|
|
BAKER GAME AVERAGE
|
|
Baker Total Pinfall:
|
3862
|
|
Baker Total Games:
|
4
|
|
Baker Team Average:
|
965.5
|
|
Baker Player Average:
|
193.1
|
