MILLSBORO, Del. – The No. 20 Norfolk State bowling team finished 13^th with a 6-9 overall record during the three-day UMES Hawk Classic this weekend at the Millsboro Lanes.
 
The Spartans ranked 14^th after the first day of Baker play with a pin total of 5,160 but moved up to 13^th following Saturday's traditional play. NSU went 2-4 during both days and then completed bracket play on Sunday with a 2-1 record, rallying to top No. 16 Kutztown in the final match after the Golden Bears had defeated the Spartans earlier in the day.
 
A total of 20 teams competed at the tournament, including 15 ranked squads.
 
Sophomore Briana Gardner had a big day on Saturday for NSU, as she had the best tournament of her career with a 196.2 average. Included was a career-high 231 as well as a 212, helping Gardner finish 17^th at the tournament in terms of average.
 
Not to be outdone, freshman Alexa Rodriguez rolled a 259 along with a 221 to tally a 186.5 average. Her 259 is tied for the fourth-best individual game by a Spartan bowler and the best since Thea Aspiras had a 259 on Jan. 25, 2014.
 
Freshman Yarelis Burgos bowled all six games as well and averaged 181.0 with a season high of 212 and another game of 211. Senior Carrie Hickey and sophomore Meagan Marciano each averaged exactly 170.0 in all six games on Saturday. Marciano's 221 in the third match of the day was her career high as well.
 
The Spartans dropped their first two matches on Friday, suffering a 940-808 setback against No. 9 Central Missouri and then a 977-845 loss to No. 2 Fairleigh Dickinson. After a narrow defeat of Kutztown, 882-871, NSU fell in its fourth match of the day, 884-845 to No. 18 St. Francis Brooklyn.
 
NSU finished out the day with an 866-676 triumph over New Jersey City, followed by Kutztown getting a piece of revenge with a 920-914 victory over the Spartans. NSU averaged 172.0 in its games on Friday.
 
On Saturday, Rodriguez' 259 helped NSU finish tied with No. 15 Sacred Heart in the opening match of the day at 997-all. The Pioneers, though, won the tiebreaker 117-107 for the victory. The Spartans then downed Franklin Pierce, 881-835, before falling in the next two matches. No. 13 Saint Francis (Pa.) first picked up a 973-953 win, and No. 24 Adelphi followed that up by downing NSU, 959-781.
 
The Spartans got their second in of the day, 952-898 over No. 14 LIU Brooklyn, before MEAC foe Howard earned a 912-858 victory over NSU to close out the day.
 
Norfolk State averaged 176.4 on the second day of the tournament and ranked 11^th with a total pin fall of 5,422. That allowed NSU to move up to 13^th place for the bracket round.
 
NSU and Kutztown faced off twice on Sunday during that bracket round, with the Golden Bears taking the first match by a 4-1 score. Taking on Howard again, NSU fell behind by a 3-2 score. After a 183-178 win in game 6, the Spartans came away with an easier 227-176 victory in the last game to win the match, 4-3.
 
Facing Kutztown again, the Spartans again fell behind, this time by a 3-0 score. The Golden Bears then fell apart, rolling games of 127, 135, 130 and 121 as NSU completed the sweep by winning those last four games by at least 39 pins each time.
 
Norfolk State finished the tournament with a 178.1 average and ranked 12^th in total pin fall (14,072).
 
The Spartans will complete the calendar year with the second MEAC Southern Divisional of the year from Dec. 5-6 and hosted by Bethune-Cookman.