PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore started the day strong at the Stalling Invitational putting up an opening set 1,020 that featured no game under 194. There were two unfortunate facts about that score. First, it was a bye and second Eastern Shore (57-41, 11-5 MEAC) was never able to duplicate that success the rest of the day.

"We were good the whole day except for our spare shooting," head coach Roger Petrin said. "We struck 46% of the time as a team. That's right there with our highest striking performance of the year."

The Shore managed a 2-2 record in the following four matches.

"I think we saw the lanes the right way. We played the lanes the right way and we just didn't complete our frames," Petrin said. "There were many times where we shot 240 and then 160 in the next game. It was pretty common to do that and I think those moments we stopped making adjustments after a good game because we got too comfortable with where we were at."

Not making moves led to missed opportunities and those led to chasing more strikes instead of completing frames. The vicious cycle did nothing for the pin total as the squad boasted nine games over 200 on the day, but also eight games under 170.

"It's very easy to miss spares when you are striking, especially when you stop striking," Petrin said. "Tomorrow there just needs to be a better emphasis on completing our frames."

Saturday features five Traditional matches.