TOPEKA, Kan. – The state motto of Kansas reads, “To the stars through difficulties.” For the 20th-ranked Angelo State Belle  volleyball team (18-1, 7-1 LSC) to reach its level of stars they also must get through difficulties – in Kansas. The Belles swept Southwest Baptist, 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-23) in their morning match at the Lady Blues Fall Classic on Saturday and improved to 3-0 in the tournament after compiling a 1-7 record the last two seasons.

“This is new territory for us; usually we struggle at this tournament,” head coach Chuck Waddington said. “We've never come into this last match with a chance to go 4-0 on the weekend.

“It strengthens our place in the region. All four of these matches are regional matches and to come out with three or four wins is really going to bolster our postseason hopes and give us an opportunity to get over that next hump.”

Senior Debbie Ohl added another double-double this weekend as she had 11 kills and 17 digs while junior Katie Coleman also added 11 kills for the Belles. Alex Woosley chipped in with 37 assists, while freshman Shelby Wilt added 12 digs.

Final Box

Southwest Baptist did not make things easy for the Belles as they traded points at the beginning of the first set until the Angelo State was able to pull it away.

“Early on they came out on fire and they were doing a lot of good things, we were making a few errors,” Waddington said. “About 10, 11 points into the first set we cleaned it up and took care of business.”

The second set also started off evenly for both teams with ASU holding on to a 16-15 lead at one point, before the Belles finished the set on a 9-1 run, with Coleman contributing three kills.

In the third set, the Lady Bearcats rallied from being down 23-18 to pull within one at 24-23 before the Belles wrap up the set – and match – with an Emily Booth kill. Despite the rally coach Waddington was not too concerned.

“I wanted them to work through it; I wasn't going to call a timeout,” said Waddington. “I told them 'this is what we're going to do' and we set a great ball and put the ball away. It was to see them stay calm under a pressure situation and get it done.”

The Belles will play their final game of the tournament against fifth-ranked and host school Washburn later today at 5 p.m.

“The girls are excited and look forward to the challenge. They know that Washburn is a high level team and really physical and it's a good opportunity to see where we're at,” Waddington said. “It's an win-win for us. Its chance to play against not only one of the top teams in the region, but in the country as well.”

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