READING, PA - The LIU Brooklyn bowling team went 2-3 on Friday at the three-day Kutztown Invitational in Reading, Pa., facing three of the top seven teams in the country on day one.
The Blackbirds (37-23), played five consecutive baker format matches on Friday, winning the first two, before falling to the final three opponents. LIU is in 16th place (out of 27 teams) with a 192.0 average.
The No. 14 Blackbirds came out strong in their first match, beating Bethune-Cookman 987-812 behind a super performance by senior Marlee Tyler, who threw nine out of ten strikes in the the match. As a team, LIU passed the 200 mark to win the final three games following a loss in game two.
In the second match versus Medaille, the Blackbirds won, 929-898. The group of Kellie Frain, Tyler Karpinecz, Kayla Johnson, Tyler and Alyssa Balicki averaged 185.8 pins in the five games to move to 2-0 on the day,
Next up for LIU was No. 7 Stephen F. Austin, and despite three strong games in the middle of the match, the Ladyjacks came out on top, 1007-931. Immediately after that, the Blackbirds faced off against defending NCAA Champions, No. 2 McKendree, and had a strong showing. LIU won the first pair of games, 211-208 and 236-229 to take a ten-pin lead in the match, but the Bearcats won the next five to take the match 1124-967.
The final match of the day pitted the Blackbirds against No. 3 Arkansas State. LIU won the the last two games of the day, 206-194 and 235-197, but the Red Wolves prevailed, 1049-989.
Saturday's action will switch to traditional matches, before concluding on Sunday with a bracketed playoff. The Blackbirds are scheduled to face No. 5 Sam Houston State, No. 9 Tulane, Youngstown State and No. 24 Monmouth. Play at Heister Lanes is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.