ALTOONA, Pa. (Dec. 2, 2011) – Hosting just its second ever tournament, the Saint Francis University bowling team shook off a slow start and finished day one of the Red Flash Invitational in second place with a total pinfall of 3,504 and a 3-1 record.

"Today was a day that, again, saw our team get better as the day progressed," head coach Tom Falbo said. "We had steady play from our senior Emily Knott (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) and freshman Lauren Johnson (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southeast). Both gave up nothing all day. Christina Leid (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) and Briana Ord (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) found a great line to the pocket in the last two matches. Both had strong finishes to their day. Tomorrow in the traditional game format, we will be looking to start with the same fire we finished with today."

In Friday's quad-baker style matches, the Red Flash (27-12) fell 674-792 in its opening match with Ursuline. SFU got off to a rough beginning by their standards and dropped the first two games to the Arrows 142-212 and 172-247, despite two converted three-pin splits in each game from sophomore Marissa Matassa (Plum, Pa./Plum Senior).

Saint Francis found its form in the final two games edging the Arrows in both 190-173 and 170-160, but could not overcome the slow start and the Arrows strong play. UC posted the highest pinfall of any of the seven competing teams in the first match by a 105 pin margin.

In its second match of the day, the Flash picked up its first win of the competition 732-652 over Medaille. Both teams picked up a win in the first half of the match with SFU taking game one 188-166 and falling 172-180 in game two. Saint Francis made a charge however in the third and fourth set and rolled to 178-145 and 194-161 wins, respectively.

In its final game against the Mavericks, SFU hit four strikes in a row from frames four through eight, followed by a two-pin split from senior Emily Knott (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area), that carried them to the match victory. Saint Francis' 732 game was the highest among all teams in second match action.

For its third match of the afternoon, the Flash did not compete one-on-one with any other teams due to the bye round, but turned in games of 166, 144, 174 and 156 for a total pinfall of 640.

Traveling all the way from New Orleans, La., Tulane made its Red Flash Invitational debut and took on the Flash in match four. SFU turned in a dominating performance, compiling its first game over 200 en route to defeating the Green Waves 718-555.

Saint Francis jumped out to a 166-149 lead after the first game before tying Tulane in the following set at 167 each, still holding onto its lead. The Red Flash took advantage of a poor third game by the Green Waves and captured a 177-111 win. SFU then turned in its first game of over 200 by downing Tulane 208-128.

For the final match of the afternoon Saint Francis was paired up against nearby Penn State-Altoona and defeated the Lions 740-684. The Flash rolled a 174 to start the match but could not compete with the 209 put up by PSU. However, SFU would never trail again from that point on and took down the Lions in three sequential games that included throwing its highest score of the day, a 213 in the second game.

New Jersey City went a perfect 4-0 on the day and accumulated the highest total pinfall on the afternoon at 3,585. Record wise Saint Francis and St. Francis (N.Y.) both compiled a 3-1 mark on day one but the Flash have the advantage in total pinfall at 3,504, the second highest total in the tournament. Leid finished as the Red Flashes top performer, registering a 19.20 baker frame average.

Saint Francis returns to Holiday Bowl tomorrow for the second day of the Red Flash Invitational where a traditional game format will be put in place. The Flash square off with New Jersey City, St. Francis (N.Y.), Penn State-Altoona, Tulane and Medaille beginning at 10 a.m.