PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore bowling team made its way to seventh place at the Colonial Lanes Invitational in Hanrahan, Louisiana Saturday (Oct. 23) behind an improved performance and four traditional wins on the second day of competition.

Junior Brooke Roberts (Port Orange, Florida) bowled a team-high 225.80 average over five traditional games — good enough for second place overall in singles competition.

"Obviously, we had a much better day than yesterday and we scored 277 pins better than yesterday," head coach Roger Petrin said. "As a team, the game plan we had yesterday versus today was a night and day difference. We saw the lanes much better and because of it we had much different reactions when we hit the pins and we were able to strike a lot more today."

Roberts started hot from the start putting up a 247 in the day's opening victory (931-879) against Lincoln Memorial.

"There was a point in the first game today where I saw how the ball was coming off her hand. Saw how the shapes were out of her hand and I just thought: I'm not going to talk to her much today. I'm going to leave her alone and let her do what she needs to do. I'm only going to talk to her when she comes to me because right now she looks like she is in the zone.

"As a team, we communicated effectively to be able to make the moves necessary. And Brooke put a lot of shots on line today. She just had a great day."

Four Hawks put up 200-or-more points in the second game, a 1,013-606 win against Grambling State, but the team suffered a 1,014-930 setback against Vanderbilt in the third game.

Junior Alejandra Amezcua (Baja California, Mexico) finished 21^st overall with a 202.20 average in five games and her strong numbers early along with Roberts, helped make up for some struggles elsewhere in the Hawks lineup.

Sophomore Gabriella Ochoa Hubbard (Nogales, Mexico) led the way in the fourth match with a 222 and the team topped Jackson State 1,017-891. Ochoa-Hubbard averaged 197.80 (24^th) in five games with four games over 200 on the day.

"I think there were a few comfort-level things that I need to be aware of that we learned today," Petrin said. "But mostly everybody had good looks in the pocket. It's just that it came down to shot making toward the end of the day. When your shots were on you struck. All my girls, I think, had a really good look to the pocket today."

In the final match of the day, The Shore outlasted Alabama State 1,054-1,053. Roberts put up a high of 248 in that match, while junior Elizabeth Ross (Schenectady, New York) posted a 233. Ross averaged a 199.25 over four games.

"It was one of those weird games, where we had total control of the game and then suddenly out of nowhere ASU just came out of nowhere," Petrin said. "I noticed as the game was going on, but I wasn't saying anything because the girls were in a good spot. I think we were 40-50 pins ahead going into the last two frames. They had a really good 10^th frame and we had a few opens in the 10^th that brought it closer than it needed to be."

The strong day was a big step forward for the Hawks as they work to get acclimated to competition again, but there was room for improvement in even their best games of the day.

"One thing I think about today was that yes we won four matches, we won the nail biter at the end and we won a nail biter with LMU early on, but we had opportunities also to get more pins today," Petrin said. "All three of the games we shot north of 1,000 on, I felt like we didn't complete the game as strong as we could have. I think we could have had 1,100s in each of them and that could have made a huge difference in trying to catch the field."

Eastern Shore will take on a familiar foe in eight-seeded Lincoln Memorial to open bracket play on Sunday. The Hawks topped the Railsplitters in the last Baker match on Day 1 and in the opening traditional match on Day 2.

"This is one of those trick matches where you can feel like you have somebody's number, but LMU is a good bowling team," Petrin said. "They may not be scoring well, but they are a good team and we still need to show up and go in with our heads in the right place. We can't afford to just be relaxed and comfortable. We still need to make shots. That's what it comes down to."