ERIE, Pa. - The Daemen University women's bowling team stands in third place after opening day action of the 2022 Mercyhurst Invitational hosted by Mercyhurst University. The two-day event is taking place at Rolling Meadow Lanes and features eight schools: Daemen, Mercyhurst, Duquesne University, D'Youville University, Hilbert College, Medaille University, Penn State Behrend and Roberts Wesleyan University.

Today's action featured five traditionally scored matches. The Wildcats won three of their five matches and posted a pin total of 4,515. Duquesne, the defending tournament champion, topped the team standings with 4,838 total pins. Mercyhurst (4,568), Daemen, Medaille (4,439) and D'Youville (4,121) rounded out the top five

It marks the 2022-23 season-opening tournament for Daemen.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Daemen opened the day with three-straight wins over D'Youville (937-855), Penn State Behrend (847-702) and Roberts Wesleyan (942-736). The Wildcats then suffered a close 920-911 loss to Duquesne, before closing out the day with a 974-878 loss to Mercyhurst.
• Senior Caitlyn Nowak (West Seneca, N.Y.), who earned Most Valuable Player honors at this tournament last year, played in all five matches and posted a team-best 191.6 average. She rolled a team-best 214 in the win over Roberts Wesleyan and a 206 in the loss to Duquesne.
• Junior Mollie Gizicki (Brighton, Mich.) also had a solid day, as she competed in all five matches and posted a 185.0 average. She rolled a 204 in the win over Roberts and opened the day with 199 in the win over D'Youville.
• Senior Nicole Bergeron (Lima, N.Y.) posted the team's second highest score today (213) during the win over D'Youville and averaged a 185.3 over four matches, while graduate student Christina Aldridge (Webster, N.Y.) tossed a 211 in the win over Roberts and finished with a 183.3 average over four matches played.
• Senior Paige Bartosz (West Seneca, N.Y.) competed in all five matches and posted a 167.2 average.
• Freshmen Olivia Dauer (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Mackenzie Hutchins (Wheatfield, N.Y.) both made their collegiate debuts in the win over Penn State Behrend. Dauer rolled a 174, while Hutchins tossed a 148.

UP NEXT

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


Daemen University features the premier 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.

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