ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. (October 30, 2016)—The Sacred Heart bowling team finished second at the FDU Jamboree this weekend falling to conference foe LIU Brooklyn, 4-2, in the final. Sarah Rhodes (Sparta, N.J.) was the Pioneers' highest individual finisher averaging 189.80 per game. The Pioneers went 8-3 over two days of qualifying, and with an overall pinfall of 10,160 SHU was seeded fourth in the bracket. Before taking on the Blackbirds for the Jamboree championship, Sacred Heart knocked off the top seeded Fairleigh Dickinson 4.5-0.5.
After a week off, SHU travels to Kenosha, Wis. November 11-13 for the Warhawk Classic hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Day 1:
The Pioneers went 5-0 in baker matches on the first day of competition and finished the day in second place
Match 1:
- SHU 870 – Bethune-Cookman 843
- The Pioneers got off to a rough start as Bethune-Cookman put up two 186 games to SHU's 176 and 179 in the first two games. But Sacred Heart remained consistant with a 172 in the third game as Wildcats stumbled with a 149 game. SHU outscored Bethune-Cookman in the last two games of the match to take home the win
Match 2:
- SHU 943 – Felician 938
- In a very close match, the Pioneers used two 200+ games to get the best of Felician, with their high game of 218 coming in the second round
Match 3:
- SHU 975 – Saint Peter's 791
- Sacred Heart dominated the Peacocks in the third match of the day, using three 200+ games to clinch the win
Match 4:
- SHU 979 – Wisc.-Whitewater 945
- After four games, SHU held just a 34 pin lead over Warhawks. Both teams bowled extremely well in the fifth match of the day, but the Pioneers threw their best game of the day, 222, to get the better of UWW, who kept pace with a 221 game
Match 5:
- SHU 930 – Chestnut Hill 844
- Sacred Heart got the better of the Griffins in every game of the match, with a high game of 201, to finish the day undefeated
Day 2:
Sacred Heart went 4-2 in traditional team matches on Saturday, dropping to fourth in the standings heading into Sunday's bracket
Match 1:
- Caldwell 837 – SHU 810
- The Pioneers suffered their first loss of the tournament to open Saturday's traditional team matches
- Rhodes led the team with SHU's only 200 game of the match, throwing a 201
Match 2:
- SHU 987 – Adelphi 836
- Dominique Newton (Farmington, N.Y.) came in off the bench in the second match of the day to contribute a 200 game to the win
- Lauren Hoffman and Casey Smith also came up big in the match recording 222 and 210 games respectively
Match 3:
- Fairleigh Dickinson 912 – SHU 858
- The Pioneers couldn't carry the momentum into match three as they took on perennial powerhouse FDU
- Newton led SHU this time with a 185
Match 4:
- SHU 872 – Duquesne 659
- Reigning NEC Rookie of the Week Tori Boughton (Brick, N.J.) came off the bench in match four to throw SHU's only 200 game, leading the Pioneers with a 206 game
Match 5:
- North Carolina A&T 983 - SHU 922
- SHU stumbled again to end the day with Newton leading the way with a 198 game
Day 3:
The teams competed in one final baker match Sunday morning. The total of the 11th match was added to the teams' overall pinfall to determine seeding in the bracket.
Match 1:
- SHU 1,014 – Jackson State 846
- The Pioneers threw their best baker match of the tournament Sunday against Jackson State using three 200+ games to get there, including a tournament high 229 game
First Round of Bracket:
- SHU 4.5 – Fairleigh Dickinson 0.5
- The fourth-seeded Pioneers took on the top seed and host FDU in the first round of the bracket
- Sacred Heart dominated the first two games taking them 212-153 and 186-155 respectively
- The Knights started striking in the third game elevating their score from the previous games, but they still couldn't get the W as the game ended in a 188-188 tie giving each team 0.5 in the series
- The Pioneers used another strong game in the fourth, 210-183, to bring them just one more win away from the championship match
- FDU made it close, but Sacred Heart edged out the nights 219-213 to advance
Second Round of Bracket:
- LIU Brooklyn 4 – SHU 2
- The Blackbirds took the first two games 186-165 and 183-168 respectively before Sacred Heart edged them out for a 166-163 win swinging the momentum in the Pioneers' favor
- SHU evened the match with a 212-192 victory in the fourth game eyeing the win
- But LIU Brooklyn answered with a pair of wins, 205-198 and 198-191, to clinch the match
