Louisiana Tech makes history in unusual season

RUSTON, La. – Just over a year ago, the Louisiana Tech women's bowling team was headed to Dallas, Texas, to compete at the first USBC Sectionals in program history.

The team pulled over at a gas station to get some snacks just a few minutes away from the hotel.

When the Lady Techsters got back into the van, they received the news: they had to go back to Ruston.

“We were growing so much at every tournament last year,” sophomore Danielle Jedlicki said. “We got better at every tournament. We had the same five people starting and were progressing, but then we got cut off.”

The team was sent home not too long after arriving back in Ruston due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jedlicki loaded everything up in her car for the journey back to Murfreesboro, Tenn., and could feel the heaviness of her car as she made the trek home.

The Lady Techsters were now doing online classes from their homes and when they were able to practice, they were alone in an empty bowling alley.

“It's nice to compete with a team because you have things to work on and people to talk to,” sophomore Allie Leiendecker said. “But when you're at home, it's just your parents. It's just you in an empty bowling alley.”

Not only were the bowlers practicing in an empty bowling alley, but they were practicing on different oil patterns.

“The oil pattern we would practice on in Ruston would be consistent with what you do at tournament,” junior Lindsay Manning said. “But then you get home and it's like a house pattern, so it's almost not even worth trying to practice on because it's nothing like it would be a tournament.”

Finally, the Louisiana Tech bowling team returned to Ruston and were practicing once again at the Lambright Bowling Alley. For the team, it was like opening a book and starting right where they left off.

The only difference? They were now competing while wearing masks.

Leiendecker said it felt good to be able to get into a routine again with the 6 a.m. workouts and the two-hour daily practices.

“You really vibe off your teammates,” Manning said. “They motivate you to do certain things that we didn't have that motivation to do in the summer because there wasn't anybody that we correlated with.”

The 2020-21 season brought a lot of firsts for the Louisiana Tech women's bowling team.

For each of the previous four seasons, the Lady Techsters opened the year at the Tulanehosted Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Bowling Classic.

This year, the season opened with the first-ever Louisiana Tech Invite in Ruston where the Lady Techsters finished second.

The Lady Techsters were consistently ranked in the top 10 all season and earned the highest-ever ranking in program history after taking hold of the No. 5 spot in the February NTCA poll.

Most recently, Louisiana Tech earned its first-ever bid to the National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship.

And the team has done all of this without the typical in-person support.

“Last year, we would compete with like 20 or 25 teams,” Leiendecker said. “We had parents and other spectators behind us. We were all side by side. This year, we had a tournament where there were just six teams.”

The Lady Techsters finished second at four tournaments during the 202021 campaign, including the 2021 Southland Bowling League Championships, which came down to the wire.

Leiendecker said this year was like a do-over for Louisiana Tech.

“We've worked so hard this year because we wanted to make it special, especially for the seniors and for us because we didn't get it last year,” Leiendecker said.

Manning said it feels weird to have Louisiana Tech attend the national championship for the first time in program history and not have the bowlers' parents in attendance.

“I know it hits home for the seniors, too, because it's their last chance,” Manning said. “We can make it next year when COVID could be cleared up and our parents could get to watch.”

Jedlicki said it is important to be humble going into the NCAA Championships.

“We need to be humble, treat it like a normal tournament and just do what you normally would do,” Jedlicki said. “You can be excited, but keep yourself level.”

Despite the unusual circumstances of the 2020-21 campaign, the Louisiana Tech women's bowling team is stronger than ever.

“It's been super fun that we're a part of making a name for Louisiana Tech,” Manning said. “The seniors helped start it, but we want to keep it going.”

Jedlicki said the team was able to pick it back up this season because of the opportunities and experiences the team had last year.

Leiendecker described the team as a unit.

“We feed off of each other,” Manning said. “If someone's down, we can pick them up. We're very close with each other.”