READING, Pa. – The ninth-ranked Kutztown University women's bowling team won its final two best-of-seven matches of the day to finish in ninth place of 26 teams on Sunday afternoon at the sixth annual Kutztown Invitational, hosted by Hiester Lanes.
 
The Golden Bears (48-27) opened the day with a 4-2 setback to 11th-ranked Saint Francis (PA), but rallied with a 4-3 win over 12th-ranked Sacred Heart, and a 4-3 win in a rematch against Saint Francis (PA) in the ninth place match.
 
Kutztown senior Brooke Bower (Camp Hill, PA/Cedar Cliff) led KU in terms of pinfall with 1206. Lauren Stamm (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin) was second with 1181, followed by Rebecca Velazquez (Mohegan Lake, NY/Lakeland) at 1163 and Deanna DiRado (Greensburg, PA/Greensburg Salem) with 1130.
 
Kutztown opened the day against 11th-ranked Saint Francis (PA). In a tightly-contested opening game, both teams had opportunities to put the game away in the 10th, but both 10th frames were left open as KU came out with the 166-156 win in the first game of the best-of-seven match. The teams then traded the next three games, as each team was victorious on the same lane in a tied 2-2 match. SFU broke the trend by taking a 3-2 lead with a 188-167 win in game five, and then won the match 4-2 with a 184-181 win in the fifth. KU led by one entering the 10th frame, but unfortunately had to deal with a seven-pin split as SFU used the strong finish to take the first match of the morning.
 
KU went against 12th-ranked Sacred Heart in the next matchup, who defeated LIU Brooklyn in its first matchup of the day. KU struggled to close out frames in the early going, and quickly found itself down 1-0. The second game came down to the 10th frame. Sacred Heart left the frame open, as Kutztown's DiRado stepped up and the closed out the first frame with a spare, followed by a strike to give Kutztown the 161-152 win and tie the match at one.
 
Kutztown opened the third with six strikes from Kayla Maselkevich (Drums, PA/Hazleton Area), Stamm, Christine Gordon (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East), Velazquez, DiRado, and Maselkevich again to take a commanding 166-90 through six frames. KU finished the game with eight strikes to win 234-171 and lead the match 2-1. Sacred Heart responded and tied the match at 2-2 with a 185-160 win in game four. KU used four straight strikes to win the fifth game 212-165 and take a 3-2 lead. KU trailed the entire sixth game, but made a valiant effort by striking out the final five frames to fall 225-214 and force a deciding seventh game. In the seventh, Sacred Heart struck out the first two, but left the next two open to allow Kutztown to spare its way to a 77-65 lead after four frames. It struck out the fifth, sixth, and seventh frames to take command of the game and win 225-176 for a tight 4-3 win against its conference foe.
 
The final match of the tournament was against St. Francis (PA), marking the second match of the day between the two Northeast Conference (NEC) teams. The first game was tied at 93 through six frames, but the Red Flash went on to win by a narrow score of 192-189. KU bounced back and won game two (173-159) and three (213-185) to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The fourth game was tied through eight frames, but the Red Flash went on to win 179-168 and tie the match at 2-2. The teams threw nearly identical games in the fifth for the first seven frames. An open frame by St. Francis (PA) in the eighth opened the door for KU to build a lead as it went on to win 203-180 and take a 3-2 lead in the match. KU left four open frames in the sixth game, as St. Francis (PA) forced a seventh game with a 175-158 win. The Red Flash jumped out to a 99-74 lead in the seventh, but KU was not ready to throw in the towel. Consecutive strikes from Maselkevich, Taylor Strothmann (Maywood, NJ/Immaculate Heart Academy), and Stamm gave Kutztown a 13-pin lead through nine. DiRado closed out the match for KU with a spare and nine pins in the 10th to give Kutztown a 200-188 win and 4-3 match win.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore won the invitational, followed by Wisconsin-Whitewater in second, Vanderbilt in third, and Fairleigh Dickinson in fourth. The tournament MVP was Thea Aspiras of Norfolk State. The first team all-tournament team was comprised of Liat Vizenfeld (FDU), Lindsay Rusch (UWW), Natalie Goodman (Vandy), Michelle Hunzaker (FDU), and Nicolette Sarin (FDU). The second team was Mariana Alvarado (UMES), Kaitlyn Reth (MU), Lauren Hoffman (SHU), Brittany Hart (LIU), and Mandi Van Duyn (UWW).
 
The Golden Bears return to action next weekend, Jan. 31-Feb. 2, and travel to the Red Flash Invitational in Altoona, Pa.
 
 
Kutztown Results
#11 Saint Francis (PA) 4, #9 Kutztown 2
#9 Kutztown 4, #12 Sacred Heart 3
#9 Kutztown 4, #11 Saint Francis (PA) 3