NEW CASTLE, Del. – In its final tune-up ahead of next week's East Coast Conference Championship, the Kutztown University women's bowling team knocked off 23rd-ranked Merrimack, nearly pulled off an upset of 15th-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson and finished sixth at the Northeast Roundup.
 
The Golden Bears entered play Sunday fifth in the team standings and found themselves in a battle against FDU in their opening match. KU ceded pins in each of the first three Baker format games, but took the fourth 177-155 and the fifth 183-157, narrowly missing out on a comeback victory by 17 pins, 873-856.
 
The lineup of Sydney Snyder (Morrisville, Pa./Conwell-Egan Catholic), Megan Hanaway (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township), Rachel Wagner (Cheektowaga, N.Y./Depew), Madison Brenneman (York, Pa./Central York) and tournament MVP Chloe Sromovski (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) would have no such issues against Merrimack. The two teams traded nearly identical scores through two games with Kutztown (42-33) holding a three-pin lead. The Bears opened it up from there, though, taking the final three games in convincing fashion for an 881-732 win.
 
With Ally Sipe (York, Pa./Central York) entering the lineup, Kutztown defeated Bryant 933-901, backed by a 213 in game two, a 198 in game five and a 195 in game three.
 
In their final seeding match, the Golden Bears cruised over Holy Family 881-622. They rolled a 218 in game two, their best of the day.
 
Matched up against Wilmington in the best-of-seven championship round for fifth place, the hosts avenged a loss in traditional format play yesterday by defeating the Bears 4.5-1.5.
 
KU came out strong with a 200 to win game one, but the Wildcats answered with a close 168-163 win in game two and a 186-161 victory in game three. The teams rolled matching 171s in game four, before Wilmington pulled within a win of clinching the match, 192-167, in game five. The Bears wouldn't go down easily, fighting until the end, but Wilmington squeaked out a one-pin victory, 164-163, in game six to end it.
 
Kutztown will compete at the ECC Championship hosted by Adelphi at Coram Country Lanes in Coram, N.Y., next Friday-Sunday.