MIDLOTHIAN, Va. – The Felician College women's bowling team enjoyed its best performance of its inaugural season, posting an 11-3 dual-match record and finishing fourth out of 12 schools at the Virginia Union University Invitational on Friday through Sunday at Bowl America Southwest.
During the traditional team matches on Saturday, freshman Kristen Keller (Reading, Pa./Schuylkill Valley) broke 210 in three out of six games, including a school-record 244 in Game 6. She averaged 198.0 for the day, and her total of 1188 placed her fourth in the individual standings. Keller was chosen for the event's All-Tournament Team.
Keller led a contingent of three Golden Falcons who finished among the top 10 out of 72 individuals who started at least one game. Freshman Jessica Zalewski (Barnegat, N.J./Barnegat) shot 1158, including 652 for her first three games, to average 193.0 and finish eighth, while classmate Kristin Natoli (Freehold, N.J./Howell) totaled 1139 (189.8 average) and placed ninth.
The Golden Falcons remained in fourth place after each day of competition. On Friday, teams bowled six 5-game Baker matches, and Felician went 6-0 while felling 5,247 pins (174.9 average), including a season-best 903 in a Match 2 victory over Virginia State University.
Felician set a program record for a traditional team match with 960 in Game 1 on Saturday, led by Zalewski's 236 and a 215 from Keller. They broke that mark in the very next game with a 966, including identical 225s from Zalewski and Natoli. In Game 4, freshman Kaitlyn Stapleton (Washington Township, N.J./Westwood Regional) shot 202 for her first 200+ game as a collegian.
Felician extended its winning streak to 11 games before falling, 958-903, in Saturday's final match. With 10,689 pins, including 5,442 on Saturday, the Golden Falcons earned the No. 4 seed for Sunday's playoff round.
The teams were bracketed into three groups of four for the playoffs, which consisted of two best-of-7 rounds of Baker games. Felician could have captured the championship with a pair of victories, but instead settled for fourth place after falling to No. 1 seed and eventual champion Sacred Heart University, four games to one, and another five-game loss to Franklin Pierce in the third-place match.
The event was the final tournament of the fall semester for Felician, which improved its dual-match record to 26-20 on the season (17-10 traditional, 8-6 Baker, 1-4 best-of-7 Baker). The Golden Falcons, who next compete Jan. 30 – Feb. 1 in Altoona, Pa., are 20-17 against NCAA opponents.
Keller and Zalewski share the team lead in season average for individual matches, each at 180.4
