HARAHAN, La. – The No. 5 seed Louisiana Tech Bowling team finished with a top-three finish this weekend at the Southland League Championships after falling early into the elimination bracket with an opening-round loss to Youngstown.
 
Tech battled back with wins over No. 8 seed Valparaiso, No. 1 seed Sam Houston State, and No 3. seed Arkansas State to compete for a shot in the championship round, but fell to Youngstown again in a marathon of a three-day weekend tournament.   
 
DAY ONE
 
No. 4 Youngstown State
Tech started strong by winning the traditional game which ended in a modified five-frame tiebreaker after ending 10 frames in a 1,004 tie. The Techsters took the tie break 86-69 for a 1-0 match lead. Lindsay Manning, Averi Brown, Danielle Jedlicki, and Patricia Rosales recorded scores over 200 in the first game. Youngstown State fought back in the total pinfall matchup to down the Techsters 1,000-905 and forced a best-of-seven Baker match. LA Tech jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the series, but Youngstown took control winning the next four games to take the series 4-1 sending Tech to the elimination bracket.
No. 8 Valparaiso
Tech found themselves in a hole early after dropping the traditional match (969-996) before Tech rebounded with a 1080-1040 win in the five-game Baker total pinfall match to tie the series at 1-1. 
The Techsters found their footing and defeated Valpo 4-1 in a best-of-seven match to stay alive and advance to the second day of the tournament. 
 
DAY TWO
 
No. 1 Sam Houston State
LA Tech started day two facing the No. 1 overall seed Sam Houston State who fell to Youngstown on Friday to keep their tournament championship hopes alive. In the traditional round, Tech dropped a tightly contested match 1,000-1,003. In the Baker set, Tech found themselves down 117 pins with two games remaining. With their backs against the wall and tournament hopes on the line, Tech rattled off six straight strikes to take the Baker by 10 (1,116-1,106). Tech took a 2-0 lead in the Baker best-of-seven but Sam Houston battled back to force a game seven. The Techsters survived with more clutch bowling and advanced after taking the final game. 
 
No. 3 Arkansas State
In the classic team match vs ASU, the Lady Techsters came out blazing and defeated the Red Wolves 1,141-996. All five Techsters fired over 200. ASU continued to fight back, splitting the series 1-1 after an eight-pin (1,060-1,068) win in the Baker total pinfall match. In the best-of-seven Baker, Tech proved too and eliminated the No. 3 seed with a 4-2 series win to advance to championship Sunday. Tech would get a rematch against Youngstown State to compete against Vanderbilt in the title round.
 
DAY THREE
 
No. 5 Youngstown State
In a back-and-forth tightly contested, although low scoring, traditional round, Tech was able to pull out a 906-900 win to move one step closer to the title round. After jumping out to a 65-pin lead (195-130) after game one, YSU steadily chipped away at Tech's lead over the next four games and pulled out the 975-1,008 win to force a best-of-seven winner-take-all Baker series. YSU continued to stay hot jumping out to a 2-0 series lead, but Tech battled back taking game three before falling in game four. Down 3-1 with their backs against the wall yet again, took the next two to force a decisive game seven. After an open frame one from YSU, they converted on seven straight strikes which proved too much even in a well-bowled game from Tech 
 
NOTABLES
• Louisiana Tech finished the weekend 3-2 in match play.
• In Baker best-of-play this weekend, Tech finished 16-14.
• Allie Leiendecker was named to the all-tournament team, her fourth of the season. 
• All-tournament team:
            Mabel Cummins, Vanderbilt (Most Valuable Bowler)
            Amanda Naujakoas, Vanderbilt
            Emma Dockery, Youngstown
            Emma Wrenn, Youngstown
            Allie Leiendecker, Louisiana Tech
Brooklyn Buchanan, Arkansas State
• Tech finishes the year with a national RPI of eight and is poised to receive an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament.
• This is Tech's third, third-place finish of the season and ninth top-five finish out of eleven events during the 2021-22 schedule. Tech also claimed three runner-up and two tournament championships this season.
 
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Matt Nantais…
"I am extremely proud of this team. We had a good run at the championships. We need to quit putting ourselves in the elimination bracket early. We did have some great matches that showed we can compete at the highest level. Unfortunately, today was not our day. We will work on consistency and spare shooting these next two weeks. We will find out Wednesday if we will be an at-large bid for the NCAA championships. This was our fourth weekend in a row and we can use a break before our next event."
 
UP NEXT
Louisiana Tech will await their fate in the NCAA selection show this Wednesday, Mar. 30 at 3:00 p.m. Tech is poised to receive an at-large bid into the national tournament in Columbus, Ohio. Apr. 14-16.  
 
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