Women's Bowling
2009-10

NORTHEAST CONFERENCE BOWLING PAGE

Northeast Conference Weekly Notebook

Deep and Talented: One can gauge the extraordinary competitiveness of Northeast Conference bowling by taking a quick glance at the final team standings from last weekend’s NEC Fall Meet (Nov. 14-15) in Reading, Pennsylvania.  With every NEC program playing seven combined matches (one against each of the eight-team league’s other members), four teams posted identical 5-2 records during the two-day competition.  Making for a true indicator of the conference’s depth, neither Fairleigh Dickinson nor Sacred Heart, two perennial NCAA title contenders, are part of the four-way tie atop the NEC standings.  FDU, which holds the highest ranking (3rd) of any NEC team in the latest edition of the NTCA Top 20 Poll, finished 3-4 against league foes while No. 9 Sacred Heart managed only two wins. 

Kutztown’s KJ Great in Baker Play This Time Around: Kutztown’s Kayla Jones (Johnstown, PA/Westmont Hilltop) took the Northeast Conference by storm during her freshman season of 2008-09, compiling a 203.5 average over 10 traditional games against NEC opponents.  In the first conference competition of her sophomore season, Jones saw her traditional average slump a bit, but rebounded in a big way during baker play.  After registering a 184.4 average over seven traditional games, including an uncharacteristic 155, Jones accounted for a team-high 21.0 baker frame average.  The league’s reigning Rookie of the Year converted 58.6% of her  strike opportunities in baker play compared to a 38.3 strike percentage in traditional games during the two-day NEC Fall Meet (Nov.14-15).

Terriers Bite Back, Post Largest Pinfall: St. Francis (NY) lost its first two matches by a combined 23 pins, but won every match thereafter on the way to compiling the highest total pinfall (9,052) at the Northeast Conference Fall Meet (Nov. 14-15).  The only one of the conference’s eight members to post a pinfall in excess of 9,000, the Terriers pieced together five consecutive victories and sit in a four-way tie atop the NEC standings as a result.  New Jersey City (1355-1340) and Kutztown (1273-1265) were the lone two teams to defeat St. Francis (NY) during the two-day competition.

Early-Season Tournament Tidbits

Four of Fright Knight’s Top-Five Hail from NEC: The annual Fairleigh Dickinson Fright Knight Invite (Oct.30-Nov. 1) welcomed 12 teams, nine of whom are ranked in the NTCA Top 20 Poll, to Parkway Lanes in Elmwood Park, New Jersey.  Although a pair of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference members claimed the top two spots in the final team standings, four of the five All-Tournament Team spots were occupied by NEC student-athletes.  NJCU’s Nicole Drejerwski (Levittown, PA/Conwell-Egan Catholic), Kutztown’s Kayla Stamm (Mohnton, PA/Governor Mifflin), and a pair of FDU Bowlers - Erica Perez (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) and Sara Litteral (Chesterfield, MI/L'anse Creuse North) - were honored after having amassed traditional game averages in excess of 195.

Saint Peter’s Storms Beach: Saint Peter’s captured the first-ever tournament title in program history by winning all four baker matches on the final day of the 2009 Beach Open in Nags Head, North Carolina.  Freshman Michelle DeVries (Port Murray, NJ/Warren Hills) was a huge part of the Peahens’ 10-4 overall record at the tournament.  She posted a 194.00 traditional game average and filled 80.8% of frames completed.

An All-NEC All-Tournament Team: Northeast Conference bowlers occupied all six spots on the Kutztown Fall Baker Invitational All-Tournament Team, which honored the top individual performances during the one-day season-opening meet (Oct. 24).  Tournament host Kutztown along with fellow NEC rivals Adelphi, Long Island, St. Francis (NY), and Saint Peter’s opened their seasons at the one-day eight-team event on Oct. 24, which also featured non-Northeast Conference members Penn State-Altoona, Lincoln, and Cheyney State.St. Francis (NY), which posted a perfect 5-0 record to win the Tournament title, placed three representatives on the All-Tournament Team - senior Alexandra Stein (Brooklyn, NY/Lincoln), sophomore Julia Petosa (Staten Island, NY/Curtis), and freshman Kristina Terpo (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay).  Stein, a 2008-09 all-NEC selection posted the Terriers’ highest baker frame average (20.7), a mark second to only Saint Peter’s sophomore Amanda Borger (Brick, NJ/Brick Twp.) (21.15).  Home-standing Kutztown was represented by Kayla Stamm (Mohnton, PA/Gov. Mifflin) and Stephanie Ray (West Lawn, PA/Wilson).

 NEC Offseason Happenings

America’s Best: Establishing itself as a national leader in collegiate bowling, the Northeast Conference (NEC) has six representatives in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Top 20 Preseason Poll.  Fairleigh Dickinson, New Jersey City, Sacred Heart, Kutztown, Adelphi, and St. Francis (NY), who together comprise three-fourths of the NEC's women's bowling membership base, are ranked among America's 20 best heading into the 2009-10 season.  Fairleigh Dickinson, which was one of the last four teams standing at the 2009 NCAA Championships, owns the NEC's highest ranking at No. 3.  NEC newcomer New Jersey City University (8th), Sacred Heart (9th), and Kutztown (10th) gives the Northeast Conference four members in the Top 10.  Adelphi (13th) and St. Francis (NY) (18th), who also remained in the Top 20 throughout all of last season, round out the NEC's representation.

FDU Tabbed NEC Preseason No. 1: Five-time NCAA semifinalist Fairleigh Dickinson stands as a preseason favorite to capture its second consecutive Northeast Conference (NEC) bowling crown. The defending NEC champions garnered six first-place votes in a poll of the league's eight head coaches.  Kutztown, the runner-up at last year's championship, garnered the remaining two first-place nods to finish directly behind FDU in second. The Northeast Conference released the survey results as a prelude its second season on the lanes. Set for its first season of NEC competition, six-time NCAA participant New Jersey City claimed third in the poll. Sacred Heart, last year's Preseason No. 1, finished fourth followed by Adelphi in fifth and St. Francis (NY) in sixth. Saint Peter's and Long Island were seventh and eighth, respectively.

"We are honored by the selection of the NEC coaches," FDU head coach Michael Lopresti said graciously. "Nobody knows better than they do about the effort it takes to operate a program on a national level. Their consensus is quite flattering, especially with so many quality programs we have in the conference that could have been chosen."

It’s Not Getting Any Easier:  NEC Adds New Jersey City: The Northeast Conference (NEC) recently announced the addition of New Jersey City University (NJCU) as an associate member in the sport of women's bowling.  The perennial NCAA title contender increases the NEC's bowling membership to a total of eight programs prior to the start of the 2009-10 season.

"We are excited about becoming associate members of the Northeast Conference," stated Alice De Fazio, NJCU's interim director of athletics.  "The NEC is a reputable and highly-respected conference, and our women's bowling program will benefit greatly from this opportunity."

NJCU joins Fairleigh Dickinson, Long Island, Sacred Heart, and St. Francis (NY) along with associate members Adelphi, Kutztown, and Saint Peter's, for what will be the bowling league's second season of competition following its formation in 2008.

"New Jersey City brings a rich history of bowling success into the Northeast Conference.  The addition of NJCU instantaneously enhances the NEC's bowling profile and will help the league build on an outstanding inaugural season," said Interim NEC Commissioner Ron Ratner.

NJCU, which was unaffiliated prior to joining the NEC, founded its bowling program in 2000 and placed Frank Parisi at the helm.  The only head coach in program history has guided New Jersey City into elite company.  NJCU is one of only four institutions nationwide to have qualified for the eight-team NCAA Tournament bracket every year since 2003-04, the year the national governing body elevated women's bowling to championship sport status.  New Jersey City, Nebraska, Central Missouri, and Maryland-Eastern Shore are the lone programs to have compiled six NCAA appearances.

 --KU--