Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
TENNIS
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Needing a comeback after dropping the doubles point, the Louisiana Tech tennis team was only able to split the six singles courts, falling by a final score of 4-3 to Stephen F. Austin on Saturday afternoon at the Schlief Tennis Complex.
“Today was a hard day,” said Tech coach Amanda Stone. “I have to give credit to SFA. They came out ready for us. I think we can take this as an important lesson. To be the team we want to be, we have to show up every match on every line and we just did not do that today.
“Our team is pretty young and we have seen in this early season the level we can win at when we come to play and what can happen if we do not come out sharp. This can be a good wakeup call for us as we head into home matches this next month. We will be in these close matches again and next time, every player will know what they need to do to be successful.”
SFA (1-1) struck first in the match after picking up doubles wins on courts one and three, but Ilana Tetruashvili was quickly able to tie things up for LA Tech (2-2) with an overpowering 6-0, 6-0 win at the No. 5 spot versus Zala Ule.
The match went back and forth with the Ladyjacks winning a straight-sets match on court two, but Najah Dawson disposing of Ana Kouchnareva by a score of 6-2, 6-1 on court four.
SFA took the lead back with a victory at the No. 3 position, meaning the Lady Techsters needed to pull out both matches on court one and six. Both went into a third and deciding net. Alexia Romero pulled out a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win at No. 6, but SFA took the fourth point at the top position.
BOWLING
Arlington, Texas – The No. 7 Louisiana Tech women’s bowling team started and finished the weekend strong to earn fifth place at the Prairie View A&M Invitational in Arlington, Texas.
LA Tech completed the weekend 8-5 competing against the nation’s top teams. The field included nine other top 20 ranked NCAA programs and six inside the top 10.
“We knew this event this would be a test for us,” said Tech head coach Matt Nantais. “Overall, we had a great weekend. To go 8-5 and finish fifth in this field is an accomplishment. We had some struggles on Saturday and didn’t bowl our best but we had people step up and showed that we have some depth to our team.
“Baileigh Snow and Tara Spridco stepped up and gave us a boost during the day. Traditionally we’ve struggled winning on Sunday and to finish the day strong with a winning record shows we have a lot of grit and fight to us. I’m very proud of our team.”
The Techsters got off to a blistering start Friday in their five Baker matches posting a 4-1 record including wins over No. 13 Tulane (1,009-873), No. 4 North Carolina A&T (1,119-1,082), No. 8 Youngstown State (1,104-1,033), and No. 3 ranked Nebraska (1,049-990) while falling to No. 15 Fairleigh Dickinson (998-1,040) to finish the day in the tournament’s top spot with a total pin fall of 5,269.
Tech opened Saturday’s traditional match slate falling to No. 19 Sacred Heart (914-1025) before rebounding against No. 2 McKendree (940-924). Top ranked Sam Houston then outlasted LA Tech (1,045-1,078), but the Techsters rebounded yet again to take down host Prairie View A&M (961-868).
Tech finished their Saturday 2-3 after dropping the final match against No. 6 Arkansas State (973-826).
In a final qualifying match Sunday morning Tech fell to No. 5 Vanderbilt (1,056-1,108) to find themselves sitting at sixth in the overall team standings just 31 pins out of the championship bracket with a total pinfall of 11,011.
That set up a rematch against Fairleigh Dickinson in a best-of-seven Baker match. After falling down 2-1 in the first three games (174-214, 230-189, 177-179), Tech rebounded to win the next two (244-126, 199-191) to take the 3-2 lead.
After FDU tied the series with a game six win (192-233) forcing a decisive seventh game, Tech was able to avenge Friday’s loss with a 185-163 clinching victory.
Tech then advanced to face-off against North Carolina A&T with a top five finish on the line. After dropping the first game (201-244), Tech rallied off four straight wins (204-173, 179-170, 222-183, 226-196) to take home the Invitational’s fifth-place finish winning the series 4-1.
SOFTBALL
Season tickets for Louisiana Tech softball are on sale as the Lady Techsters are slated to play 23 home games at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field.
First year head coach Josh Taylor and Co. will host a two-day home tournament the second weekend of the season while hosting four 3-game Conference USA series against UAB, Southern Miss, UTSA and FIU.
Tech will host home-and-home mid-week series against ULM, Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin and will also host Nicholls State (3 games) and Southeastern.
A number of price points exist for season tickets. Chairbacks (most popular) are $100 while bleacher seats are $75 and berm seating are $50.
Season ticket holders from last year will have the opportunity to purchase their same seats or select other seats that aren’t already purchased by an existing season ticket holder.
The Lady Techsters return 16 letter-winners from last year while welcoming six newcomers to the mix for this season. Tech’s 2022 roster includes a number of local products, including KB Briley (Sterlington), Katelin Cooper (Cedar Creek), Caroline Easom (Airline), Kara Goff (Ruston), Jordyn Manning (Ouachita), and Lauren Menzina (Cedar Creek).
To purchase season tickets, fans can call 318-257-3631 or go to LATechSports.com/tickets
FOOTBALL
Louisiana Tech head coach Sonny Cumbie and his coaching staff will provide an in-depth look at the Bulldogs 2022 signing class during a signing day event on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. at the Davison Athletics Complex.
The event is sponsored by Origin Bank.
Tech signed 11 recruits in the early period in December and will sign additional student-athletes prior to the event on Feb. 2 during the late signing period.
This event is a great opportunity for Bulldog fans to get a chance to meet the new coaching staff and find out detailed information on the newest Bulldog signees.
In addition to the presentations of the Bulldogs signees – including video – by Coach Cumbie and his staff, Louisiana Tech Director of Athletics Eric Wood will address the crowd.
Doors will open at 6 p.m. for a cocktail hour including a cash bar followed by a buffet dinner and the programming starting at 6:30 p.m.
Individual tickets are $45 per person ($40 for LTAC and T-Club members). Tables of eight which include dining with co-OC Jake Brown, co-OC Scott Parr or DC Scott Power are available for $1,500 (7 tickets). Regular tables of eight (7 tickets) are also available for $500 as a member of the Tech coaching staff will be seated at every table.
Tables of eight (7 tickets) sitting with Tech President Les Guice or Director of Athletics Eric Wood are available upon request for $2,500.
To purchase tickets, tables or to find out more event information, go to www.latechalumni.org/SigningDay. Fans can also contact Director of LTAC Taylor Cross at tcross@latechalumni.org or at 318-295-4919 for more information.