PENSACOLA, Fla. – The No. 14 Louisiana Tech bowling team wrapped up another tournament this past weekend, placing second at the Rattler Invitational, hosted by Florida A&M.
 
Sophomore Kaitlyn Eder was named to the All-Tournament Team (4^th – 191.40), while four Techsters finished among the top 20 individuals in the traditional team format of action.
 
Heading into Sunday's bracket action, the Lady Techsters found themselves as the No. 2 overall seed, taking on Alabama State to begin the final playoff for the tournament crown. The Lady Hornets took the first two games of the match, 149-119 and 220-137, however, Tech rallied back, taking the next two games (197-150 and 198-197) in the best-of-seven matchup. Alabama State would have an answer, and staked wins in both games five and six (178-153 and 196-195) en route to taking the first-round matchup 4-2.
 
The Lady Techsters dropped down to the bottom part of the bracket, but put together an impressive 4-1 (167-242, 173-157, 160-156, 170-146, 178-158) triumph over Southern to advance back to the championship match in a rematch with Alabama State.
 
Tech took the first game over the Lady Hornets, 202-191, but Alabama State rattled off three consecutive wins (202-200, 208-202, 175-169) to stake a 3-1 lead in the matchup. The Techsters had an answer and responded with wins in both games five and six (203-156 and 184-180) before Alabama State closed out the match with a 223-193 win in the seventh and final game of the match.
 
"We simply didn't do our jobs this weekend," head coach Matt Nantais remarked. "Every match we lost, we gave the other team an opportunity to beat us by not doing what we've done well all year. This was the toughest pattern we've bowled on all year, but it is still not an excuse to miss as many spares as we did this weekend. We did have three girls finish in the top eight for the event. We will take this tournament as a learning experience and use it to better prepare for our next event."
 
On day one in Friday's baker matches, Tech earned wins over Southern, Bethune-Cookman and Grambling, while dropping decisions to Alabama State and host Florida A&M.
 
In the traditional team games on Saturday, the Techsters saw impressive individual efforts across the board, resulting in a 3-2 record, and entering Sunday with the second highest pinfall of all teams. Three Techsters finished in the top 20, as Eder (4^th - 191.40 – All-Tournament Team), Emily Rettig (6^th – 187.60), Ashley Channell (7^th – 187.40) and Lindsay Manning (15^th – 167.40) all finished among the top 20 competitors.

 Louisiana Tech returns to action on February 15-17, heading to Nacogdoches, Texas, to take part in the annual SFA Jacks Invitational, hosted by Stephen F. Austin.
 
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