NEC MATCH SCHEDULE

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- The LIU Brooklyn bowling team preparing to finish up Northeast Conference regular season play this weekend in Sinking Spring, Pa. All seven NEC members will be in attendance for the three-day event on from Friday, Feb. 22 through Sunday, Feb. 24, when two full cycles of round-robin play will decide the seeding for next month's NEC Championships.

The Blackbirds (39-32) come into the NEC event two weeks removed from a runner-up finish at the Golden Bear Classic at Kutztown. Sophomore Kellie Frain was named to the All-Tournament team, as LIU finished ahead of No. 11 Saint Francis University, No. 19 Mount St. Mary's, and No. 23 Duquesne in the event.

Back in early December, LIU went 2-4 in the first round of league play, beating the top two teams in the National Coaches rankings at the time: No. 8 Fairleigh Dickinson and No. 20 Sacred Heart. Coincidentally, those two opponents are tied with the Blackbirds at 2-4. Mount, a first-year program is in first place at 6-0, followed by SFU at 4-2. St. Francis Brooklyn started off in seventh place at 1-5.

The seven teams will start off with a full round of traditional bowling, with the Blackbirds playing SHU (11:55 a.m.), SFU (1:05 p.m.), Mount (3:25 p.m.) and SFBK (4:35 p.m.) on Friday. LIU will finish up on Saturday morning with Duquesne (9:00 a.m.) and FDU (10:10 a.m.) before the midway point of the weekend. After the lunch break, teams will play up to three total pinfall baker matches on Saturday, followed by up to four baker matches on Sunday to complete the round robin. For the second round on Saturday and Sunday, the teams will be seeded in order of standing after the two completed rounds of play.

After the NEC meet, LIU will get right back into action next weekend at the Monmouth Hawk Invite at King Pin Lanes in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.