TAYLOR, Mich. (April 15, 2011) – This was Ali-Frazier and Hearns-Hagler without the punches and boxing gloves. Kutztown University went toe-to-toe with reigning national champion and No. 1 ranked Fairleigh-Dickinson before falling short, 4-3, in a riveting opening match of the NCAA Women's Bowling Championships at Skore Lanes Friday afternoon.
“That was a brutal match, no matter who you were rooting for,” Kutztown head coach Joe Ambrose said. “Both teams played well and it just came down to a few little things. All eight teams here are good so you can't make many mistakes. It was a lot of fun though.”
The Golden Bears matched the Knights strike-for-strike, and spare-for-spare during the tense best-of-7 Baker contest that had the entire bowling facility glued to lanes six and seven.
Spectators contorted their bodies as the balls rolled down the lane. Oohs, ahhs, and sighs were regular sounds as the match got deeper. Some fans couldn't bear to watch as they closed their eyes while others used their hands to cover their faces. Hearts were beating faster as FDU and Kutztown put on a true display of championship bowling.
Kutztown used a dramatic rally late in the sixth game to force a deciding game. Kutztown also dropped a 4-3 decision to FDU at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) championships in February.
Kutztown (99-39 overall) will fight now to stay alive when it battles Central Missouri State, a 4-1 loser to Vanderbilt. The Kutztown-FDU match was the only one to go more than five games. Nebraska beat Sam Houston State and Maryland-Eastern Shore defeated Arkansas State by 4-1 scores.
FDU won the first game, 212-179. Kutztown rebounded to win two straight games, 234-211 and 245-180 to grab a 2-1 edge. The Knights responded by winning the fourth game, 257-175, and the fifth game, 181-157. Trailing in the sixth game after five frames, the Golden Bears dug deep and found some extra juice to extend the contest. Junior Kayla Jones (Johnstown, PA/Westmont Hilltop ) finished the comeback off by rolling three straight strikes in the tenth frame to help KU edge FDU, 197-193.
Kutztown started the final match strong with consecutive strikes from Brooke Bower (Camp Hill, PA/Cedar Cliff) and Kayla Stamm (Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin). However, the Knights continued marking and eventually ran off a run of four straight strikes to grab control and hold off Kutztown.
“That was a good match and really close,” Brooke Bower (Camp Hill, PA/Cedar Cliff) said. “We made a few mistakes during the match and they carried a little better than us. It was still a great match to be a part of.”
--KU--
