ERIE, Pa. - The Daemen College women's bowling team kicked off its 2019-20 season today with opening-day action of the inaugural Grapevine Classic. The two-day tournament is being hosted by Penn-State Behrend and is taking place at Eastland Bowl. The tournament features eight teams from the states of Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio.

The Wildcats went 3-2 on the day. They opened the tournament with a win over host Lions of Penn State Behrend (760-710) and followed up with a 775-702 win over the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford. The Wildcats then suffered back-to-back losses to in-state rivals Villa Maria College (853-823) and Roberts Wesleyan College (864-798), before capping the day with an 867-771 win over Villa Maria.

Daemen ranked third among the eight teams during today's "traditional format" scoring with a team average of 160.9. Walsh University placed first with a team average of 167.0, followed by Roberts Wesleyan (165.4). Day two will feature "baker format" scoring.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Freshmen Paige Bartosz (West Seneca, N.Y.) and Caitlyn Nowak (West Seneca, N.Y.) were the only two Daemen bowlers to compete in all five matches today.
• Bartosz, a product of Orchard Park High School, had a solid collegiate debut, as she paced the team with a 180.0 average. She posted the highest score for the Daemen bowler (202) on the day during the win over Villa Maria and also rolled a 196 in the win over Pitt-Bradford.
• Nowak, a graduate of West Seneca West High School, posted a 163.4 average. She posted her best score (190) during the win over Villa Maria.
• Juniors Adrianna Pencek (Dunkirk, N.Y.) and Alex Syrotynski (East Greenbush, N.Y.) competed in four of the five matches. Pencek posted a 164.3 average and rolled a 191 during the win over Villa Maria. Syrotynski finished with a 163.5 average. Her high game (179) came during the loss to Villa Maria.
• Senior Katie Good (Hamburg, N.Y.), junior Katlyn Newberry (Rochester, N.Y.) and sophomore Christina Aldridge (Webster, N.Y.) also saw action for the Wildcats today.

UP NEXT
Day two gets underway tomorrow (Oct. 13) at 9 a.m. The schedule can be found here.

Daemen College features the only NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.