EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, New Jersey — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore went 4-1 on the opening day of competition at the Hawk Flight Open — hosted by Monmouth University — at the King Pin in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey to land in fourth place headed into Day 2.

The Hawks (61-37, 13-5 MEAC) averaged a 964.8 per match with the one outlier (an 883) coming in a loss to Youngstown State in the fourth match of the day.

"It was a pretty consistent day," freshman Chloe Skurzynski (Carlisle, Pennsylvania) said. "We didn't go on a roller coaster ride like we sometimes do. We started and ended on a good note."

Eastern Shore opened with a 994-561 shellacking of Bloomfield College and then topped Caldwell University, 984-841. Next came a 957-873 victory against Wilmington University, but then the squad faltered a bit.

The 933-883 loss to the Penguins may have been a bit of a wake-up call for the team as they responded and refocused.

"We need to concentrate more on our spares tomorrow," sophomore Paulina Torres (Ponce, Puerto Rico) said.

The Shore finished strong with a 1,006-805 win against Felician University. The Hawks averaged a 193 on the day and are just 186 total pins behind first-place Vanderbilt.
"I felt like we flowed together well today — good comradery despite some games that we lost focus on our spares," junior Brigitte Jacobs (Freeport, Illinois) said. "We will be better tomorrow."

Day 2 will feature five Traditional matches as the Hawks will face off with Fairleigh Dickinson in a position round battle before facing Norfolk State, Vanderbilt and Long Island University – Post.

"We scored reasonably well based on how we threw the ball today," senior Danielle August (Mililani, Hawaii) said. "Going into tomorrow, we are confident in what we see. We will score better, throw it better and make a move."