RUSTON, La. - In just their second action of the season, the Louisiana Tech Bowling program made significant strides, registering a third place finish at the Jackson State Invitational in Jackson, Mississippi this past weekend.

On Sunday afternoon, Louisiana Tech entered championship round as a third season after recording a 2-2 record on Friday and a 3-2 record on Saturday afternoon.

To call Sunday's slate a battle would be an understatement, as all three matches the Lady Techsters competed in went to seven games, with LA Tech taking the win in two of those three matches.

The Lady Techsters entered Sunday with a shot at a championship at the Invitational, but fell by just four pins to host-Jackson State in game seven of the match. After dropping the first two games of the match, Louisiana Tech would win the next two games to tie the match at 2-2. After Jackson State went ahead 3-2, LA Tech took the sixth game 166-156.

With the loss taking them out of championship contention, LA Tech would battle back though in their second match with Alabama State. The Lady Techsters registered their first 200 point game of the day in game seven of the match to advance to the third place game, setting up a rematch with Jackson State.

One again, this match would also go seven games, but Shelby Smith would be nearly unstoppable in this final match. The senior registered 12 consecutive strikes in the match, which is equivalent to a perfect game. LA Tech would record two 200 point games in the match and then win the final game 195-181 to take the match and a third place finish.

"Every match today went seven games," head coach Matt Nantais said. "The first match we fell to Jackson State, but we forced them to get up and perform in the 10th frame to beat us and their anchor performed well enough for them to grab the victory. The next two matches also went seven games, but we were able to take the seventh game in both of those matches. Overall, I feel that we are getting better as a team and the players are doing a great job of accepting the challenges that are presented to us. We have a short week preparing for Alabama State, but I know our practices will be very focused."

With her dominating performance Shelby Smith was named to the Jackson State Invitational all-Tournament team.

The Lady Techsters will next compete in the Hornet Classic hosted by Alabama State, beginning on Friday, Nov. 18.