ARLINGTON, Texas – The Norfolk State bowling team finished out the Prairie View A&M Invitational with a 10th-place finish at the Bowling International Training and Research Center over the weekend.

A week after a solid showing at Kutztown, the Spartans struggled against another loaded field, finishing just 2-11 overall. Of NSU's 11 setbacks, seven came against teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation.

Norfolk State (47-39) did pick up a victory against No. 14 Valparaiso on Saturday in team play, 1,000-957. The team's only other win came on Sunday in the bracket portion of play, a 4-1 victory over Texas Southern.

Senior Thea Aspiras led the way on Saturday by averaging 200.4 in all five games. Junior Courtney Brown rolled a 236 in the win over Valparaiso and ended the day with a 181.4 average in five games.

Freshman Nicole Rivera Santiago (173.0) and junior Kelsea Yarbrough also competed in five games, while junior Courtney Williford competed in three and averaged 178.7. Juniors Ashley Buck and Emily Weber each bowled a game as well.

On Friday in Baker play, the Spartans came up short against Texas Southern, 704-683, and No. 1 Arkansas State, 794-745. In the next three matches, NSU again fell on the wrong side of the score, 789-738 to No. 5 Stephen F. Austin, 713-710 to Jackson State, and 823-685 to No. 8 Vanderbilt.

The Spartans dropped the next four on Saturday, 904-842 to No. 10 Sam Houston State, 803-798 to Prairie View A&M, 971-932 to No. 3 Central Missouri, and 990-836 to No. 6 Nebraska. NSU ended the day with the upset of Valparaiso.

On Sunday in the bracket round, NSU could not hold on to a 3-2 lead as the Spartans succumbed to No. 2 UMES to start the day, 4-3. After a 4-0 loss to host Prairie View, Norfolk State closed out the tournament with the win over Texas Southern.

NSU will compete in the MEAC Southern Divisional on March 1-2.