ROCKAWAY, New Jersey — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore women's bowling squad finished the opening day of competition for the 2018-19 season with a 4-1 record at the Caldwell University Cougar Invitational.

The No. 7 (NTCA) Hawks (4-1) topped St. Francis College Brooklyn by a 905-881 score in the opening Baker style match then followed that up with a 926-76 win against Felician University.

"Brigitte Jacobs (Freeport, Illinois) was great for us in the five hole," head coach Kaya Bandy said. "She and Quianna Macares (Willemstad, Curacao) were repeating shots and filling frames to keep us in  matches all day long."
Jacobs and Macares let the team in strike percentage (52 percent) and Jacobs led in fill percentage at 85 percent with Macares close behind at 82.

Junior Cayla Hicks (Salem, Virginia) was the only Hawks to stay in one place for the balance of competition as Bandy looked to find the right combination as the lane conditions changed throughout the day. She had an 82 percent fill percentage and struck at a 40 percent rate.

"Cayla was consistently filling frames in the middle of the lineup and she saw several different teammates before and after her during the day," Bandy said. "Danielle August (Mililana, Hawaii) started the day working well with Brigitte at the bottom of the lineup, but as the friction took her left we had Quianna come in because she physically could drive through the friction much easier."

The lone hiccup of the day came against Saint Francis University (Pennsylvania) when Eastern Shore fell 980-919.

The Shore rebounded with a 924-919 win against Adelphi and another when they downed Molloy College (904-873).

Freshman Isabel Hughes (Raleigh, North Carolina) started the day by taking fill shots early, but had to be thrown in the fire as Alexandra Hernandez (Maricaibo, Venezuela) had a bit of an off start.

"Alexandra helped us in later matches on the burn (after the oil pattern was worn away)," Bandy said. "Isabel did an excellent job at the top of the lineup repeating shots, so we could get an accurate indication of where and how much friction was to come on each lane."

Sophomore Paulina Torres (Ponce, Puerto Rico) had a 41.7 percent strike percentage and 82 percent fill percentage.

Competition continues on Oct. 27 at when the Hawks open Traditional competition against Kutztown University and Sacred Heart University. The squad then faces off with host Caldwell, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rival Delaware State, Bloomfield College and then faces Fairley Dickinson to open Sunday morning.

The Shore earned the No. 1 seed for the next round of competition with the seeding based on overall record.