PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne bowling team turned in another solid performance as they finished fifth out of 17 teams at the Red Flash Invitational hosted by St. Francis University this past weekend. The team went 9-3, with a big win over the host team No. 19 ranked St. Francis University on Saturday. Freshman Janae Haller led the team to a 4-0 record on Saturday as she finished in 13th place among individuals. She averaged 187.8 for five games, bowling 33 pins over her season average.
All five DU bowlers placed among the top 65 in the 106-woman field.
The Dukes qualified as the sixth seed for the championship bracket and faced off against #5 seed Caldwell in first round. Caldwell edged out the Dukes in a tight match winning 4-1.
In the second round, Duquesne took on 7th-seeded Felician University and found themselves down 2-0 early. Both teams battled in game three, with the Dukes stringing together six strikes in a row to win 226-210. Duquesne didn't let up and went on to win the next three games to win the match 4-2.
The final match of the day was a rematch with Caldwell for fifth play. Caldwell took the early lead, winning the first two games, and looked like they were going to win the third game as junior Cassidy Powers left a very hard 6-7 split in the 9th frame. However, Powers converted the difficult split and the Dukes took game three. Caldwell took game four, but Duquesne won the next two games to force a game seven. DU stayed clean making all of their spares in the last game to defeat Caldwell 212-195.
FRIDAY BAKER MATCHES
Duquesne went 3-2 in Friday's baker matches with both losses coming to nationally ranked teams. DU fell by eight pins to No. 20 Norfolk State and by 14 to No. 21 St. Francis Brooklyn.
Game 1
Duquesne 898, Thiel 538
Game 2
Duquesne 913, New Jersey City 770
Game 3
Norfolk State 893, Duquesne 835
Game 4
St. Francis Brooklyn 893, Duquesne 879
Game 5
Duquesne 842, Morgan State 770
SATURDAY TRADITIONAL MATCHES
The Dukes, led by a 939-pin performance from Janae Haller, posted four wins without a loss - highlighted by an 888-818 victory over No. 19 host Saint Francis U - in Saturday's traditional matches.
Game 6
Duquesne 888, No. 19 Saint Francis U 818
Janae Haller bowls a Duquesne-high 207 and Megan Cook adds her high game (194) to lead the Dukes over the host Red Flash.
Game 7
Duquesne 865, Penn State-Altoona 644
Lauren Mayberry posts her high game (199); Kelsey Hackbart rolls a 190.
Game 8
Duquesne 869, Pitt-Bradford 830
Haller with her second 200+ game at 205; Cook with a 186
Game 9
Duquesne 810 (bye)
All five Dukes at 155 or above led by Mayberry's 172.
Game 10
Duquesne 846, Caldwell 814
Hackbart with a 194, Cassisdy Powers with her top round at 192 and Haller rolls a 189 to lead the Dukes.
Saturday individual pin totals:
Janae Haller - 939
Kelsey Hackbart - 859
Lauren Mayberry - 856
Megan Cook - 823
Cassidy Powers - 801
SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET SCORES
Lost to Caldwell (L, 1-4)
Defeated Felician (W, 4-2)
Defeated Caldwell to finish 5th (W, 5-2)
