Smyrna, TN - The Mount Aloysius Bowling team traveled to Smyrna, Tennessee for their biggest challenge of the season at the Music City Invitational. The field consisted of 29 teams, 17 of which were ranked in the top 20 in the NCAA, with Mount Aloysius currently ranked 29th.

Friday was the first day of competition and consisted of 5 baker matches. The Lady Mounties faced #1 ranked McKendree to start the event. The Mounties lost the match 846-1109. The second match was against #6 Stephen F.  Austin, and the Mounties lost the match 886-1002. The team picked up two wins in their next two matches. They beat North Central University and Prairie View A&M by scores of 862-816 and 878-874. The final match of the day was a bye match in which the Mounties rolled a 908. The Mounties finished the day in 21st place out of 29 teams rolling a 175 average on the day.

Saturday featured the traditional format and the Lady Mounties came back strong bowling a 181 average for the day with senior Rayissa Amon (Bloomfield, NY/Bloomfield) rolling an impressive 1033 series, good for a 206 average. Her high game of the day was a 259. The Mounties went 1-4 in match play for the day. They lost to  #13 Central Missouri 972-1086, #11 University of Wisconsin Whitewater 873-921, Lewis University 868-905, and #5 ranked Sam Houston State 878-980. They picked up a win against Kentucky Wesleyan by a score of 958-948. Despite a great day on the lanes individually, the Lady Mounties finished the day in 24th place of 29 teams with a 3-6 overall ecord. Jessica Bello (Pennsauken, NJ/Pennsauken) rolled very well averaging 192, and Kaitlyn Klein (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) rounded out the top 3 for the Mounties with a 178 average.

Sunday consisted of three best of 7 Baker matches. The Lady Mounties tried their best to jump a few places in the overall standings, unfortunately, the pinfall went against them as they were defeated in all three matches against Lewis University, Kentucky Wesleyan and Howard University by scores of 796-988, 1008-1071 and 1133-1164. Although the final two matches were very close and the Lady Mounties had taken the early leads in the matches, winning the match clinching game proved difficult, as the wins slipped away from the Mounties in the end. The high baker average for the weekend went to Klein with a 18.2, followed by Amon with a 17.4 and Casey Schaffer (Levittown, PA/Bucks County Technical) with a 17.3.

Head coach Barb Jones said, "The Music City Invitational is without a doubt the best tournament in the country.  The competition is so strong that any bump in the road results in a game of catch-up all weekend and that is the position we found ourselves in. This team did not give up the fight and in the long run it will make us stronger both mentally and physically. We are refocused and ready to face the next challenge of the year."

The Mounties next competition will be the AMCC Championship at Simms Lanes in Beaver Falls, PA. They are looking to secure the very first automatic qualifying bid into the NCAA Championships, which will be held in Cleveland, Ohio the second week of April.