WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ - Monmouth University announced today that it will accept an invitation to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in the sport of bowling, effective for the start of the 2018-19 season.

"Monmouth is excited to join the MEAC as an associate member in the sport of bowling," Monmouth University Vice President and Director of Athletics Dr. Marilyn McNeil said. "This is a premier conference for women's bowling and Monmouth eagerly anticipates some great competition and some new conference relationships."

Monmouth will join 10 other teams in the conference, including Bethune-Cookman, Coppin State, Delaware State, Florida A&M, Howard, Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T and UAB. Last season, North Carolina A&T represented the MEAC at the NCAA Championship by earning the conference's automatic bid.

"We are excited and honored for this opportunity to join the MEAC," Director of Bowling Karen Grygiel added. "It is one of the original sponsoring conferences of NCAA Women's Collegiate Bowling and continues to support the growth and advancement of our sport both locally and nationally. The membership is comprised of teams that compete at a high level, creating an atmosphere of local competition that is both challenging and invigorating. This is truly a great move for our program moving forward."

Monmouth bowling was previously a member of the Northeast Conference (2010-13), competed as an independent (2013-15) and spent 2015-2018 as part of the Southland Bowling League. Grygiel, the only head coach in the history of Monmouth's bowling program, recently completed her eighth season in charge of the Hawks. The program has spent a majority of the previous two seasons in the NTCA national rankings and finished the 2016-17 season ranked No. 13 in the country.