NJCU went 1-2 on the day but finished the tournament with a 10-3 record and improves to 24-11 on the season. The Knights are 17-5 in their last 22 matches.
In the opening match, Sacred Heart rallied from a 3-2 series lead and defeated the Knights by a combined 13 pins in the final two games, prevailing by a 4-3 margin (181-160, 196-164, 185-191, 180-245, 138-180, 218-209, 212-208).
In the second match, NJCU compiled two games of 225 or better and rolled over the #1 ranked and defending NCAA champion FDU squad for the second time in three meetings this season, winning 4-games-to-1 (185-175, 225-222, 180-231, 190-186, 229-213).
In the final match of the day, the team on lane 10 won all seven games as Delaware State outlasted NJCU, 4-3 (155-191, 238-196, 217-225, 192-167, 165-198, 188-164, 179-203).
Junior JENNIFER DAUNNO (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) was selected to the All-Tournament Team after placing fifth overall among 129 bowlers in individual pinfall with 1100 on November 20. Her younger sister, sophomore lefty KELLY DAUNNO (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) placed 28th with 985 pinfall while senior NICOLE DREJERWSKI (Levittown, PA/Conwell-Egan Catholic), the reigning NCAA Division III National Player of the Year, had a five-game pinfall of 937 and was 41st.
In all 19 Baker games during the three 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), KELLY DAUNNO, JENNIFER DAUNNO and Drejerwski.
Despite the pair of seventh-game setbacks, 11th-year head coach FRANK PARISI was certainly pleased with the performance his young club displayed in a major tournament.
“I'm very pleased overall. While we didn't end the way we wanted, to go 10-3 in this tournament—against this competition—and beat the top caliber teams that we did?! I'm very pleased with the start of this season and the development of these freshmen. This team has come together quickly and it's showing with the results.”
Host and No. 2 ranked Maryland Eastern Shore won the tournament and finished with an 11-2 record. Fifth-ranked University of Central Missouri and unranked Sam Houston State University—a pair of teams NJCU defeated during the tournament—placed second and third, while Sacred Heart and Delaware State were fourth and fifth based on their wins over NJCU.
Among other notable finishers, FDU listed eighth, Kutztown University was ninth despite posting a 12-1 record on the week, and No. 4 ranked Vanderbilt, whom NJCU defeated during the event, was 11th.
In the third meeting of the year between NJCU and Sacred Heart, the Pioneers improved to 2-1 in the annual rivalry—both wins by a 4-3 margin in a seven-game series. NJCU actually outscored the Pioneers in total pinfall in the seven games, 1357-1310, and the 245-180 win in game four was a season's-best score for the Knights.
SHU won the first two games before NJCU won the third game by six, 191-185, and crushed the Pioneers by 65 and 42 pins, respectively, winning game four (245-180) and five (180-138) for a 3-2 series lead. SHU held on in game six for a nine-pin 218-209 decision. In game seven it came down to the very end. JENNIFER DAUNNO struck in the ninth frame and Drejerwski followed with all 10 in the 10th frame. But Sacred Heart senior lefty Sarah Pelletier (Lewiston, ME), also an All-Tournament team choice, tossed a strike to seal the win.
One week after defeating FDU by 77 pins (1046-969) in Northeast Conference action on November 14, NJCU met its archrival in a best-of-seven series and improved to 2-1 this year against the defending NCAA national champions.
In game one, NJCU claimed a 10-pin, 185-175 decision. JENNIFER DAUNNO and Drejerwski struck in the fourth and fifth frames and the duo repeated the feat in the ninth and 10th, to clinch the game. In game two, everyone in the lineup contributed as NJCU outlasted the FDU Knights by three, 225-222, in a well-bowled game on both sides.
In defeat, FDU actually had a 1027-1009 total pinfall advantage in the match, largely due to its win in game three, 231-180. But NJCU bounced back, taking game four by four pins, 190-186 as JENNIFER DAUNNO and Drejerwski again set aside all 10 in the ninth and 10th frames.
In game five, NJCU—Brehm, Baginsky, and the Daunno sisters—started with four strikes, and NJCU converted spares in the middle frames before JENNIFER DAUNNO struck in the ninth and Drejerwski doubled in the 10th. Her back-to-back strikes were crucial in the 229-213 win because FDU made a late run with four consecutive strikes heading into the 10th frame.
You cannot play defense in bowling and Delaware State, which entered the final match as the higher seed had choice of lane. After the schools split the first six games—all won on the same lane—the Hornets choose that side and won game seven by 24 pins, 203-179, to take the match, 4-3. DSU has won both meetings this year and both have been nail biters; the Hornets previously claimed an 860-852 win over NJCU on November 6.
Del State achieved a 238 in game two of the series—the highest Baker score against the Knights this year. The closest game was game three, won by NJCU by a 225-217 margin, as the Knights chalked up four strikes in a row in the middle frames and Drejerwski struck out in the 10th frame. Both schools tallied exactly 1334 pins in the seven games.
NJCU returns to the lanes for the final tournament of the first half of the year on Friday, December 3 thru Sunday, December 5 in Lawrenceville, VA as the Knights compete in the Jeanette Lee Invitational, hosted by St. Paul's University. Last year, NJCU finished second of 20 teams at the tournament and went an impressive 11-0 in head-to-head action.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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BEST 4-out-of-7 PLAYOFFS
|
|
|
PINFALL
|
|
GAMES
|
AVG.
|
W/L/T
|
|
NJCU
|
160
|
164
|
191
|
245
|
180
|
209
|
208
|
1357
|
|
1.4
|
969.2857
|
L, 3-4
|
|
Sacred Heart
|
181
|
196
|
185
|
180
|
138
|
218
|
212
|
1310
|
|
1.4
|
935.7143
|
|
|
NJCU
|
185
|
225
|
180
|
190
|
229
|
|
|
1009
|
|
1
|
1009
|
W, 4-1
|
|
Fairleigh Dickinson
|
175
|
222
|
231
|
186
|
213
|
|
|
1027
|
|
1
|
1027
|
|
|
NJCU
|
191
|
186
|
225
|
167
|
198
|
164
|
203
|
1334
|
|
1.4
|
952.8571
|
L, 3-4
|
|
Delaware State
|
155
|
238
|
217
|
192
|
165
|
188
|
179
|
1334
|
|
1.4
|
952.8571
|
|
|
NJCU
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5002
|
|
5.2
|
961.9231
|
1-2
|
|
OPPONENTS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4799
|
|
5.2
|
922.8846
|
|
