READING, Pa. – The No. 20 Norfolk State bowling team ended the Kutztown Invitational on a high note by going 3-0 on Sunday to wrap-up the three-day tournament at the Hiester Lanes.
The Spartans tallied a 6-9 overall record on the weekend at a tournament that featured 17 ranked teams altogether. In the end, NSU finished 17
th out of 26 squads and averaged 180.0 over the course of three days of competition.
NSU rebounded after posting a 1-5 record on Friday in the Baker round and a 2-4 mark on Saturday in traditional play. All but two of NSU's losses at the tournament came against ranked teams.
They defeated fellow MEAC schools Bethune-Cookman and Howard on Sunday and closed out the tournament with a victory against No. 21 Saint Francis Brooklyn. The victory against B-CU came after the Spartans rallied from a 3-1 deficit. They tied the Wildcats in game five of the best-of-seven series, 214-214, to stay alive. Norfolk State won games six and seven, 179-171 and 198-143, respectively, to force a tiebreaker. There, NSU won 108-102 to cap off the victory.
Then against Howard in the next round, the Spartans and Bison went back and forth, with neither team winning two in a row. Then all tied at 3-3, Norfolk State won 182-172 to earn the 4-3 victory. NSU finished off the tournament by sweeping Saint Francis Brooklyn in four games, topping 200 in the first three games.
On Friday in Baker play, NSU got its only win in the first game of the day, topping Howard, 889-843. The Spartans then faced four teams ranked in the top 12 among their last five games of the afternoon.
The stretch began with a 1,013-851 loss to No. 7 Fairleigh Dickinson. Fellow MEAC school and No. 12 Delaware State won 962-929, and then No. 10 Maryland Eastern Shore – like DSU, also from the MEAC Northern Division – defeated the Spartans by a 986-873 score.
Host Kutztown came away with an 892-881 triumph over NSU, which also fell to No. 11 Sacred Heart 1,014-817 in the last game of the day.
Sophomore
Alexa Rodriguez had the best day on Saturday in tradition play, averaging 204.7 in six games of play, including a 231 in the third game of the day. Junior
Briana Gardner posted a 185.2 average in all six games, while freshman
Heizel Quinones competed in the last three games and finished with a 180.3 average.
Freshman
Aubrey Conrad and junior
Meagan Marciano each bowled in all six games. Conrad carried an average of 175.5, and Marciano was slightly behind her at 171.5. Sophomore
Yarelis Burgos competed in the first three games on Saturday as well.
The Spartans began Saturday with a 955-916 loss to No. 19 St. Francis (Pa.). NSU rebounded to down Saint Francis Brooklyn, 942-914, for the first of two wins against the Terriers at the tournament. A 1,010-841 loss to No. 13 LIU Brooklyn then marked the first of three straight defeats for the Spartans.
They also succumbed to No. 17 Franklin Pierce, 966-912, and to Lincoln Memorial, 973-880. The Spartans did build momentum by taking care of Morgan State, 966-806, in the last game on Saturday, with Gardner tallying a 221 to lead the way.
NSU will next compete at the Red Flash Invitational beginning this Friday in Altoona, Pa.
