Jan. 15, 2018 JONESBORO, Ark. - After a weekend of action at the Mid-Winter Classic, hosted by Arkansas State University, the Louisiana Tech women's bowling squad took home a 9th place finish among a talented field. Tech also posted head-to-head victories over ranked opponents in No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 7 Stephen F. Austin, No. 11 Central Missouri, No. 20 Maryville and No. 22 Alabama State.
"I think overall, we had a pretty successful weekend," head coach Matt Nantais said. "We had some up and downs throughout the weekend, but the lane conditions here were very tough and challenging."
The Techsters began the weekend with a competitive first day of action, dropping their first two baker matches to No. 1 Nebraska and Jackson State. However, against the tough field of 20 teams (14 of which are ranked or receiving votes in the National Tenpin Coaches Association), Tech wrapped up day-one action, winning their final three baker matches for seventh place heading into Saturday's action.
On day two, Tech faced a bit of a setback, falling to 11th in the overall standings after posting a 2-3 record in the traditional format. Highlights of the day included a 1,014-990 win over No. 22 Alabama State and a narrow 985-965 clutch triumph over No. 7 Stephen F. Austin.
"We had a few pairs of lanes that were really the demise of our standings after the first two days," Nantais added. "But, we also didn't execute as well as were are capable of executing."
Heading into Sunday's bracket action as the 11th seed, Tech opened the day with another matchup with No. 22 Alabama State. The Techsters won handily 4-1, by scores of 217-156, 210-164, 196-175, 160-189 and 235-161.
Tech then moved on to face another ranked opponent in No. 20 Maryville, and prevailed in the tight matchup, moving on to the ninth-place game after a 4-3 (234-226, 152-171, 210-192, 148-133, 181-185, 188-212, 203-191) nail-biter.
In the final matchup of the tournament, Tech raced out to a 2-0 advantage against No. 11 Central Missouri and took control of the match winning in five (202-198, 174-171, 204-214, 178-156, 222-191) and claiming ninth place.
"We finished the weekend on another high note, going 3-0 and taking ninth place," Nantais added. "Our record on Sundays this season is 11-4, which is great for us moving forward. We need to figure out how to come out and compete all three days of these events. We have a few weeks off to work on some spare-shooting, which we need."
Throughout the Mid-Winter Classic, Louisiana Tech was led by freshman Ashley Channell who registered a top-25 finish overall by bowling an average score of 205.4. Fellow rookie Kaitlyn Eder finished 42nd with an average of 192.6, while Kelsey Calzaretta (53rd at 188.4), Sarah McComic (63rd at 180.0) and Kendall Hickman (76th at 161.80) all posted finishes among the top 80.
Tech returns to action on February 2 at the Prairie View A&M Invitational in Arlington, Texas.
To see this year's team in action, subscribe to the LA Tech Bowling Channel on YouTube and be sure to follow @LATechBowl on both Twitter and Facebook for updates and results.
