Kutztown opener has Coppin bowling excited

BALTIMORE - The Coppin State women's bowling team begins its season at the Kutztown University Fall Baker Invite this weekend at Berks Lanes in Reading, Pa. Coppin State is looking forward to competing in this event, which is the largest in its history with 20 teams.
 
"We're excited and ready to go," said first year coach Shaunita Middleton as she expressed the team's attitude headed into this weekend's tournament.
 
Middleton also made it clear that the team is looking to get more than excitement from the tournament that commences Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. Four of Coppin State's five opponents are either first or second-year bowling programs.
 
While it's a two-day tournament, Coppin State will only compete Saturday in which every team will play five Baker-style matches.
 
"It is our biggest tournament of the season and we need to work as team in order to achieve success," Middleton said. "That means encouraging one another, team building, and competing. We want to put ourselves in a position to compete for victories in the 10th frame."
 
Senior Kristen Sharpe led the Eagles with 827 pins knocked down and averaged a 165.4 pinfall at the Kutztown tournament last November. She also bowled a team-high 188 against Pitt-Bradford.
 
Sophomore Jasmine Newman and junior Brionca Beard respectively bowled totals of 664 and 520 pins in last year's Kutztown Fall Baker Invite in which the Eagles played traditional team and Baker matches.
 
The Eagles will begin Saturday play against Daemen College, a Division II program out of Amherst, N.Y. The Wildcats will be kicking off their inaugural season. Next in line for Coppin State will be the Molloy College Lions hailing from Rockville Centre, N.Y., another team marking their programs inaugural campaign this upcoming season.
 
The Eagles next opponent will be Felician College, a second year bowling program from Rutherford, N.J. The Golden Falcons placed seventh at Kutztown last season. They are ranked ninth in the 2015-2016 National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Division II/Division III Preseason Poll.
 
Franklin Pierce University by way of Rindge N.H. will be the fourth team to take on Coppin State. The Ravens finished seventh in the NTCA 2014-2015 final poll.
 
The Eagles final opponent on Saturday will be Caldwell University. The Cougars are a second year bowling program from Caldwell, N.J.
 
Coppin State will be looking to use hard work to build a nucleus early in the season.
 
"The group dynamic with our team is unbelievable," Sharpe said. "We need to make sure the positive energy is flowing throughout the team. Cheering for one another, picking up spares and letting the strikes come to us."
 
Coppin State will be back on the road the following weekend for the Hampton Roads Collegiate Invitational hosted by Norfolk State University at AMF Lanes in Chesapeake, VA.