JONESBORO, Ark. – The No. 14 ranked Louisiana Tech bowling team concluded their first action of the new calendar year this past weekend, finishing eighth among a stacked field of 20 teams at the Mid-Winter Invitational, hosted by Arkansas State.
 
The Lady Techsters joined 11 other ranked teams in the weekend tournament – seven of which ranked among the top-10 nationally.

"This weekend we had some highs and some lows," head coach Matt Nantais commented. "We need to start limiting the amount of "lows" we have at tournaments. Friday was a bit rough for us as a team, but we regrouped and Saturday we posted the fourth-highest total pinfall for the day. We also had three girls finish in the top 20 and Ashley Channell missed out on all-tournament team recognition by one pin. Sunday we came out and bowled our first match against Tulane and threw the ball great. I cannot say the same for the ensuing two matches."

Overall, I thought we did well at this event, considering we have not had a tournament since Thanksgiving break. Our next event is in two weeks, and we will be better prepared for that contest."
 
In Friday's baker matches, Tech posted a 2-2 overall record, finding itself in the middle of the pack in 10^th place after the first day of competition. Tech earned wins over Drury (964-868) and Alabama State (983-981), but fell to No. 5 Sam Houston State (883-853) and No. 1 McKendree (963-907) on the opening day of action.
 
On Saturday, the Techsters bounced back, moving up a couple places to eighth in the overall, standings following the traditional team games. Tech opened Saturday with a big, 1,057-1,038 win over the host Red Wolves (ranked 4^th nationally). Tech then followed up with another triumph, taking down No. 15 Lincoln Memorial, 938-919. Tech would earn another triumph on the day (875-686 over Grambling) between a pair of defeats (928-957 to Valparaiso and 962-996 to No. 20 UAB) to wrap up Saturday with a 2-1 mark.
 
Sophomore Ashley Channell paced the Techsters on Saturday, just missing out on all-tournament accolades, but placing sixth among all 128 individual competitors, averaging 208.00 in Saturday's action.
 
Tech entered Sunday's bracket play as the eighth overall seed with a chance to finish as high as fifth. The team opened Sunday with a strong result over an in-state foe, taking down No. 6 Tulane four games to two (178-223, 205-201, 228-191, 218-210, 157-247, 215-186). Tech then dropped its next two matchups (both to top-five opponents), falling 4-1 to No. 5 Sam Houston State and 4-0 to No. 2 Nebraska, finishing the weekend in eighth place.
 
Tech will be back in action in two weeks, heading to the Sunshine State to compete in the Rattlers Invitational hosted by Florida A&M, running January 25-27 in Pensacola, Florida.
 
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