ERIE, Pa. - The Daemen University women's bowling team closed out play at the Mercyhurst Invitational today. The two-day event was hosted by Mercyhurst University and took place at Rolling Meadow Lanes. The tournament featured eight schools: Daemen, Mercyhurst, Duquesne University, D'Youville University, Hilbert College, Medaille University, Penn State Behrend and Roberts Wesleyan University.

The Wildcats ended up winning seven of 10 matches over the two days and finished in third place. Tournament host Mercyhurst finished first, while Duquesne placed second. It marked the season-opening tournament for the Wildcats.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Daemen went 3-2 during the opening day and entered day two in third place with 4,515 total pins. Duquesne, the defending tournament champion, topped the team standings after day one with 4,838 total pins. Mercyhurst (4,568), Daemen, Medaille (4,439) and D'Youville (4,121) rounded out the top five after one day of action.
• Daemen won four of its five matches today. Three of the four wins came against cross-town rival Medaille, which is ranked 10th nationally in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) DII/DIII Preseason Poll.
• All of today's matches were scored using Baker Format.
• Daemen opened the day with an 879-616 win over Hilbert. The Wildcats won all five games during the match, starting with a 174-111 win in the opening game. Daemen later took a commanding 702-480 lead following a 203-146 win in game four.
• The Wildcats then knocked off Medaille, 863-747. Daemen opened with a 185-161 win in game one, before the teams played to back-to-back ties in games two (148-148) and three (156-156). The Wildcats took control with a 205-144 win in game four, and capped the win with a 169-138 win in game five.
• Daemen faced Medaille again in the positional round and posted a 957-833 win over the Mavericks. The Wildcats won the first two games (180-168 / 201-153), before Medaille handed Daemen its first loss of the day, 174-168 in game three. The Wildcats rebounded with wins in game four (195-169) and game five (213-169).
• Daemen then faced off against Mercyhurst in a Baker Format best-of-seven match, with the winner advancing to the championship match.
• Mercyhurst, which is ranked No. 8 in the NTCA DII/DIII preseason poll, won the first two games 221-196 and 224-145, before Daemen evened the match with wins in game three (188-157) and game four (203-199). The Lakers took a 3-2 lead following a 155-146 win in game five and sealed the win with a 205-143 victory in game six.
• The loss to Mercyhurst dropped Daemen into the third-place match with Medaille. The Wildcats rallied from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 and knocked off the nationally-ranked Mavericks for the third time today to earn third place. Medaille took the first two games (179-169 / 188-173), before Daemen evened the match with wins in game three (159-152) and game four (233-199). The Mavericks took a 3-2 lead following a 234-154 win in game five, but the Wildcats clawed all the way back and posted impressive wins in game six (214-129) and the decisive game seven (232-169).
• Daemen has now prevailed in the last four—and six of the last nine—meetings over the past two seasons between the Wildcats and the Mavericks.
  

UP NEXT
The Wildcats are idle until the the weekend of Oct. 22-23 when they return to Erie, Pa. to take part in the Grapevine Classic hosted by Penn State Behrend.
 

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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