BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The LIU Brooklyn bowling team is gearing up for their final tournament of the fall season, the Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks Classic at Millsboro Lanes in Millsboro, Del., this weekend, Nov. 16-18. The Blackbirds' last three-day meet of 2018 will again be full of nationally ranked teams, including five of the top ten.
BIG TIME FIELD
Play begins Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m. with five sets of Baker total pinfall games on day one and , five sets of traditional team games and concludes Sunday at 8:30 a.m. with best-of-seven Baker matches. Besides the seventh-ranked Hawks, the 18 teams competing this week are No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 4 Sam Houston State, No. 8 Delaware State, No. 9 FDU, No. 10 Tulane, No. 11 North Carolina A&T, No. 12 Sacred Heart, No. 14 Lincoln Memorial, No. 20 Duquesne No. 23 Monmouth, No. 24 Kutztown; along with Caldwell, Coppin State , Mount St Mary's, Youngstown State and St Francis Brooklyn.
LAST TIME OUT
The team is coming off a very successful tournament, hosted by Wisconsin-Whitewater in Milwaukee, climbing two places in the standings each day to finish in eighth place, with two wins over top ten teams. Individually four bowlers carried a 200+ average, led by sophomore Jennifer Roback (209.2) average to lead the squad in 18th place in the individual standings. Senior Kayla Johnson (208.4), junior Tyler Karpinecz (206.6) and sophomore Kellie Frain (200.8) were all ranked in the top 30 individually. Moreover, freshman Jacqualyn Ciprello was named Rookie of the Week by the NEC for her best performance to date.
LAST YEAR ON THE SHORE
The Blackbirds went 2-1 on the final day to take seventh place overall at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawk Classic. The Blackbirds faced three ranked teams in the bracketed playoff and had an 8-5 record in the three-day event, led by then senior Lauren McKowen (201.8), freshman Kellie Frain (201.2) and sophomore Tyler Karpinecz (201.0).
ON THE TARGET NEXT
LIU will have Thanksgiving weekend off before opening Northeast Conference play on Friday-Saturday, December 1-2 in Mechanicsburg, Pa. at ABC West Lanes.