MIDLOTHIAN, Va. – The Florida A&M bowling team went 5-8 and finished 10th in the 16-team VUU Invitational, hosted by Virginia Union from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, taking place at Bowl America Southwest in Midlothian, Virginia.
 
The Rattlers rolled 10,327 total pins over 66 games for a 156.5 game average.
 
The Orange and Green won three of five Baker matches and two of five traditional matches before dropping all three of their Sunday championship bracket matches.
 
All five of Florida A&M's losses in Baker and traditional play came against teams that finished in the top five – champion Central Missouri, runner-up Felician, third-place Belmont Abbey, fourth-place Grambling State and fifth-place Fayetteville State, respectively.
 
Baker Play
 
FAMU opened Baker play with a 767-720 win over Holy Family, then beat Virginia State 799-601 and Virginia Union 836-586. The Rattlers then ran into the top of the field, falling to Central Missouri 839-710 and Felician 903-745. Their best Baker game of the event was a 224 in the win over Virginia Union. The Rattlers finished with 3,857 Baker pins.
Traditional play
 
The Rattlers beat Wilmington (Del.) 811-647 and Bowie State 832-631 in its first two traditional matches. It then lost to Fayetteville State 910-829, Belmont Abbey 827-781 and Grambling State 908-810. FAMU totaled 4,063 traditional pins, one behind Fayetteville State's 4,064.
 
Sunday Bracket
 
Florida A&M lost its bracket opener to Howard 4-2, with Howard edging the pin count 947-913. Coppin State then swept the Rattlers 4-0 (672-538). In the ninth-place match, Holy Family beat Florida A&M 4-2 even though the Rattlers had the pin advantage, 956-851. Three of Holy Family's four game wins came by a combined four pins: 128-127, 142-140 and 190-189.
 
Florida A&M Individuals
 
Alieenah Rodriguez led the Rattlers and finished eighth among all individual bowlers. She totaled 916 pins in five traditional games for a 183.2 average, with games of 209, 202 and 204.
 
Briana Buezon finished 19th individually with 835 pins and a 167.0 average, highlighted by back-to-back games of 198 and 199. Nikia Thomas totaled 760 pins for a 152.0 average. Bree Stewart averaged 162.3 over four games, including a 187 in her final game. Aniyah Franklin averaged 154.0 over three games. Brianna Davidson and Olivia Brown also competed.
 
Champion and Top Performers
 
Central Missouri won the title.
 
The Jennies went 10-1 and posted the best game average in the field at 176.7 on 10,955 total pins. They beat Felician 4-3 in the opening bracket match to earn a spot in the final, then beat Felician again, 4-1, in the championship match. Felician finished 10-3 and led the field with 11,937 total pins.
 
Belmont Abbey took third, followed by Grambling State in fourth, Fayetteville State in fifth and Texas Southern in sixth. Virginia Union, the host, finished 15th.
 
Texas Southern's Zaniya McClain was the top individual bowler. She totaled 1,005 pins in five games for a 201.0 average and rolled a tournament-high 256 in her final game. Central Missouri's Camryn Cramer was second with 953 pins (190.6 average), followed by Grambling State's Nicole Ortiz Varon (943) and Veronica Osorio (939) and Central Missouri's Sydney Lee (935).
 
Final standings: 1. Central Missouri, 2. Felician, 3. Belmont Abbey, 4. Grambling State, 5. Fayetteville State, 6. Texas Southern, 7. Coppin State, 8. Howard, 9. Holy Family, 10. Florida A&M, 11. Wilmington (Del.), 12. Walsh, 13. Virginia State, 14. Bowie State, 15. Virginia Union, 16. Barton.
 
The Rattlers get back to action November 13-15, when the Orange and Green travel to Houston Texas, where they will compete in the Track Kat Klash hosted by Sam Houston.
 
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