ALTOONA, Pa. – The LIU Post women's bowling team took home fourth-place at the Red Flash Invitational hosted by Saint Francis University this weekend, finishing with an 8-5 overall record at the event.
 
Freshman Rhianna Smith led the Pioneers with a 191.5 average during the traditional format, including the only two games over 200 for the Green and Gold. Freshman Nicole Lettich added a 179 average during five games and sophomore Emily Cavanaugh tallied a 175 average over five games.
 
On Friday, the Pioneers opened the Baker format of the event with victories against Felician University and Penn State Behrand. Despite a Baker format-high game of 926, the Pioneers came up short against No. 20 Saint Francis in their only loss of the day. The Green and Gold closed out the day with a 778-644 win against Penn State Altoona and a 894-854 triumph against Mount Aloysius College.
 
On Saturday, the Pioneers continued to rack up the wins, beginning the day with a two-pin victory against No. 24 Kutztown University (855-853). Games of 898 and 893 helped the Pioneers take down Mount Saint Mary's University and Felician to move to 3-0 on the day. The Red Flash proved to get the better of the Pioneers once again during match four, and LIU Post could not overcome an outstanding game of 1,031 by Mount Aloysius, the second-highest traditional format score of the day in the team's final match.
 
Entering Sunday in fourth place overall, the Pioneers began the bracket format of the event with a 4.5-3.5 victory against Mount Saint Mary's after earning a 109-104 win during the tiebreak game. In match two, the Pioneers matched up against Saint Francis for the third time and jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage. The Red Flash stormed back with three-consecutive wins, taking a 3-1 lead before the Pioneers bounced back with two wins of their own to force a decisive seventh game. LIU Post could not overcome a game of 220 by Saint Francis and fell to the third-place match against Mount Saint Mary's.
 
The third time was not the charm, however, against the Mount. After trading the first four games, Mount Saint Mary's won the final two games to take third place.
 
LIU Post is back in action in two weeks when they return to Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania to compete in the Golden Bear Classic hosted by Kutztown University at Berks Lanes from Feb. 8-10.