NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 7 Louisiana Tech Bowling finished inside the top-10 at No. 8 this weekend in Nashville, Tenn. at the Columbia 300 Music City Classic out of the 33-team field.
Tech started this weekend like they do most, with a first-match Baker win taking down Alabama A&M (1,037-833). Tech then fell to No. 16 Sacred Heart (979-996) but rebounded against No. 23 Central Missouri (980-966). In match No. 4, Tech and Drury finished in a high-scoring 1,078 tie, followed by Tech dropping Friday's final match to No. 8 Stephen F. Austin (964-1,010) to go 2-3 after day one.
The Saturday traditional slate was a massive test for the Techsters with four of the top-five teams in the nation on the schedule. Tech traded wins and losses over the first four matches with No. 3 Sam Houston (1,041-1,020), No. 4 Vanderbilt (946-1,108), North Central College (952-814), and No. 1 McKendree (975-1,006). In the final match of the day Tech took on previously undefeated (9-0) No. 5 North Carolina A&T. The match game down to the final frame where senior
Allie Leiendecker threw three straight strikes to walk off the come from behind win (1,016-1,014) giving A&T their first loss of the tournament.
Tech finished qualifying with a 5-5 record and sat in ninth place with a total pinfall of 9,968 pins. Leiendecker finished inside the top-10 (No. 9) in the individual overall standings out of 200 bowlers with 1,117 pins for a 223.4 game average.
Averi Brown's 214.2 average placed her No. 16 while
Lindsay Manning finished inside the top 50 at No. 40 with a 202.8 average.
LA Tech opened Sunday's bracket with a 4-0 sweep of No. 2 Nebraska (182-174, 216-206, 209-206, 179-172). This is the third time this season that Tech has knocked off Nebraska.
The Techsters moved on for another shot at No. 3 Sam Houston State in a Baker best-of-seven format. Tech held a 3-2 lead (198-236, 214-184, 203-193, 188-211, 244-232) before losing in a tie-break in game six (98-95) after finishing at 202 apiece. Tech then dropped game seven 202-227 to lose the series.
In their final match of the weekend against No. 9 Youngstown State, Tech got off to a great start and took a 3-0 lead (190-187, 224-203, 246-172) but dropped the next three games (223-175, 190-172, 190-172) which took the series to a decisive game seven that ended in a 201-201 tie forcing extra frames. Tech was able to clinch this one 109-83 in the extras finishing the weekend with a ninth-place overall finish and posting a 7-6 record.
NOTABLES
• Louisiana Tech is now 63-18 in qualifying matches this season.
•
Allie Leiendecker finished inside the top-10 in individual standing at No. 9. With 1,117 total pins.
•
Averi Brown (1,071) and
Lindsay Manning (1,014) also broke the thousand pin mark on the weekend.
• Tech now has ten wins over top five-ranked teams in the 2022 portion of the season's schedule.
• Tech has finished inside the top-10 in all 10 competitions this season, including eight top-five finishes, three runner-up, and two tournament titles.
UP NEXT
Louisiana Tech now turns their attention to the Southland Conference Championships this weekend, Mar. 25-27, at the Colonial Bowling Lanes in Harahan, La.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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