Washington, D.C. – According to a poll of Northeast Conference (NEC) head coaches, the Duquesne University bowling team has been picked as the preseason favorite in the conference for the 2024-25 season. It marks the second consecutive year the Dukes have been selected to win the NEC.
Duquesne earned three first-place votes along with Fairleigh Dickinson, which is picked to finish second. Mercyhurst has been selected to finish third, while Monmouth and Niagara have been picked to tie for fourth, with the Purple Eagles receiving one first-place tally. Wagner and LIU round out the poll.
Led by head coach
Jody Fetterhoff, who has guided the Dukes to the NCAA Championship in three of the last four years, Duquesne has won the NEC regular-season championship in each of the last two seasons, including a shared title in 2023 and the program's first outright crown in 2024. Last season, the Dukes finished with an overall record of 71-36 (.664), including a mark of 17-4 (.810) in the NEC.
Duquesne, which earned an invitation to the NCAA Championship in 2021, 2023 and 2024, advanced to the Elite Eight last year for the first time in program history, falling to eventual national champion Jacksonville State at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes.
Bolstering the Dukes in 2024-25 will be senior
Shannon Small and sophomore
Maribeth Baker. Small, a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., is a four-time All-NEC performer, earning first team accolades each of the last two years after being named to the 2021 All-NEC Rookie Team and the 2022 All-NEC Second Team. She owns a career scoring average of 200.7, which ranks third in program history.
Baker, a native of York, Pa., was named the 2024 NEC Rookie of the Year while also earning spots on both the 2024 All-NEC First Team and the 2024 All-NEC Rookie Team. In her NCAA Division I debut campaign, Baker averaged 199.9, which sits fourth behind Small in the Duquesne career records, and produced the top tournament average by a freshman in school history by winning the Hawk Classic in November of 2023 with a 233.00 average.
Small and Baker also each garnered accolades from the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) in 2024, with Small named NTCA All-Northeast Region Honorable Mention, while Baker was named to the NTCA Northeast Region All-Rookie Second Team.
Fetterhoff is in her ninth season as the only head coach in program history. A two-time NEC Coach of the Year (2023, 2024), she has led Duquesne to an overall record of 481-279 (.633) during her tenure, including a 97-59 (.622) ledger in conference action.
The Dukes open their 2024-25 season Friday, Oct. 11, with the first of three days of action at the Penguin Classic, hosted by Youngstown State. It marks the third time in the last four years Duquesne will open its season with the event at Holiday Bowl in Struthers, Ohio.
Duquesne, which will enter the 2024-25 season
ranked 10th according to the NTCA, will serve as host of the NCAA Regional in April of 2025 at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes. The Dukes are in the midst of a four-year cycle of hosting, and it was announced last week that
Duquesne will serve as host of the 2027 NCAA Championship, also at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes.
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