New Orleans, La.- The 18^th ranked Alabama State Bowling team finishes the first day of the All-State Sugar Bowl Invitational in eighth place.
 
Alabama State (3-2) defeated Alabama A&M (872-811), Tulane (960-944), Florida A&M (898-791) in Baker games and collected a pin total of 4,506 to sit in eighth-place in the overall total pinfall standings.
 
"I saw a lot of opportunities for improvement but, I wasn't discouraged because of the youth of our team," said Head Coach Andrew Chatmon.  "They showed a lot of heart for their first tournament out and I see a lot of upside with the ladies, they will most definitely grow into their own as the season goes on."
 
The Hornets' two losses came in their first and fourth game to 3^rdranked Sam Houston State (1,053-958), and Bethune-Cookman (917-818). Alabama State's 960 was the squad's top game total of the day.

Vanderbilt sit's in first-place in total pins with 5,011 after the first day. They are followed by Sam Houston with 4,950, Stephen F. Austin's 4,817 and UAB's 4,680.

"We didn't completely perform as we wanted today but, we had many bright spots and tomorrow is a new day with more opportunities," Chatmon said in closing.

The teams will square off on Saturday at 9 a.m. CT with five team games.

In the five-person team game, starting members of the competing teams will successively and, in regular order, bowl one frame on one lane. Once completed, the team members shall move to the alternate lane of the competition pair. This pattern of play continues until all 10 frames of a game are complete. 

The tournament concludes Sunday with a tournament at 9 a.m. CT. The tournament, consisting of Best 4-of-7 Baker matches, will determine the champion. The 13 teams will be seeded based on the performance on Friday and Saturday.