BOWLERS WRAP UP DAY ONE OF AMCC CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT

#3 Penn State Behrend and #5 New Jersey City University each picked up Friday morning victories in the AMCC Women's Bowling Championship Tournament to advance to the final four along with #1 Saint Vincent College and #2 Medaille University.

Fifth-seeded New Jersey City earned the upset victory over #4 Pitt-Bradford, as the Gothic Knights went 2-0 on the morning, thus eliminating the Panthers from the tournament. New Jersey City started out with a 942-800 win in traditional play, as Sarah Newland led the team with a 189. The Gothic Knights returned to the lanes just as strong in Baker play, taking the 866-749 victory to claim Match 1 on the day. 

Behrend started off the morning strong as well, also going 2-0 while eliminating #6 La Roche University from the tournament. The Lions earned a 896-811 victory over the Redhawks in the team format, while the Lions' Abby Lanker led all bowlers with a game-high 245. Behrend then completed the sweep with an 838-823 Baker format win over the Redhawks to take Match 2 and advance to the afternoon round of the championship tournament. 

In Match 3, New Jersey City came out hot, taking the early lead over top seed Saint Vincent in the traditional format and staying on top for most of the game. However, the Bearcats' Olivia Emmonds strung together five straight strikes to bring her team back. Emmonds' two strikes in the 10th frame gave Saint Vincent their first lead of the match as they held on to win 873-865. Emmonds went on to finish with a game-high of 230 while Monique Koehler scored a 209. In Baker play, Saint Vincent edged New Jersey City 878-846 to take the Match 3 victory. 

Medaille came out hot in Match 4, taking the traditional format game from the Behrend Lions with a score of 919-799, as Mackenzie Smith led the Mavericks with a 235. Medaille was firing on all cylinders in Baker play, rolling three of five games above 200 (231, 222, and 201), for a total pinfall of 1020, beating out Behrend's 741.

Saturday's matches kick off at 9:30am with #1 Saint Vincent and #2 Medaille squaring off in the winner's bracket, while #3 Penn State Behrend and #5 New Jersey City clash in an elimination match.