HOWELL, N.J.- Monmouth University's women's bowling team concluded its first NCAA Division I match over the weekend, competing against 17 other teams at the FDU N.J. Jamboree at Howell Lanes.

"We had a good inaugural tournament," said first year head coach Karen Grygiel. "There were some ups and downs over the past three days, but the effort was certainly there.  Overall I am proud of the team and believe they have learned some valuable lessons this past weekend that will help them prepare for our upcoming NEC match and the UMES Hawk Classic the following weekend."

Defending national champion and fellow Northeast Conference member Farleigh Dickinson won the three-day tournament, which consisted of five Baker matches, five traditional games and a playoff round of three best of seven Baker matches.  The event featured 10 teams that were ranked in the 2010 National Tenpin Coaches Association preseason poll.

In the first day of baker competition, the Hawks scored victories over Howard and Florida A&M. In the second day of traditional team game matches, they earned wins over Bethune Cookman, Hampton and Howard. During the third day of best-of-seven competition, Monmouth opened up with a 4-2 victory over Hampton. They then advanced to play seventh-ranked Delaware State, but fell short of victory in the seventh match, finishing with a 3-4 loss.

Individually, Monmouth junior Rikki Del Donno (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury [FDU]) finished 29th out of 118 bowlers with a 178 average and a high-game of 194.  Sophomore Jolisa Aquino (North Bergen, N.J./High Tech) placed 33rd with a weekend average of 176.2 while Emily Fiore (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) finished 42nd with a 170.6 and Brittany Havens (Bordentown, N.J./Bordentown Regional) was 54th with a 156.8.

Monmouth will compete this weekend at their first NEC match of the season held at Colonial-Berks Lanes in Reading, Pa.  The action will begin at 12 p.m. on Saturday.