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WARRENSBURG, MO. – The Angelo State Belles' season came to its conclusion with a 3-1 loss to Central Missouri in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional on Friday in the UCM Multipurpose Building.

Angelo State finishes the season with a 31-6 record, which included its first national postseason win in 20 years, its first trip to the NCAA tournament in 19 seasons and a 15-0 start to the season.

“I'm super proud of this group,” ASU head coach Chuck Waddington said. “There is no doubt that we belong here after the way our girls fought their hearts out in both of these matches. They played great and have nothing to feel bad about. We left everything we had on the court. Everyone that came to watch these matches knows that it was no fluke that we made this tournament and that we are going to be back.”

Central Missouri (29-4), the regional's top seed, advances to the championship match with the 25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 25-22, win over the Belles. In the finals, UCM will face No. 2 Washburn which topped No. 3 West Texas A&M 3-0 in the night's first semifinal match.

Alex Woolsey led the Belles with 50 assists and 11 digs, while Kaelen Valdez had a team-leading 16 kills and nine digs. Woolsey's 50 assists followed a 56-dig performance on Thursday in the quarterfinals against St. Edward's. Celeste Bonter added 13 kills, Maddie Huth 12 and Chelsea Gibson 10. Shelby Wilt paced the Belles with 21 digs, while Shelby Warick contributed 17. Kayla Smith added eight digs and Debbie Ohl eight kills and seven digs in their final games as Belles.

Valdez, who was selected for the all-tournament team, led Angelo State with six kills, Woolsey contributed 15 assists and Huth added five kills in the Belles' 25-22 second-set win. ASU jumped out to a 6-1 advantage in the set before squaring the match at 1-1 and putting the home crowd on notice. The match would see 31 ties on the scoreboard – including 10 in the opening set and 12 in the decisive set.

The Belles and Jennies were tied with 79 digs and 57 assists each in the team statistics.  

“We defended well and we never stopped scrapping,” Waddington said. “We did enough to make them make mistakes. They took big swing after big swing, but we stayed right in there with them the entire match. They were just able to make more plays than we were in the end to advance.”

Paula Harris and Allie Huffman led UCM with 18 kills and Julia Bates added 48 assists for the Jennies who were ranked No.6 in the final poll of the season.


Additional Quotes

Angelo State head coach Chuck Waddington
On the Angelo State volleyball program:
I think this group has set the bar for others to come. We had goals of being at the top of our conference, making the regional, being ranked in the country. And we did all those things. Every year that I have been here we have taken another step, and it's because of these kids. I think the future is bright at Angelo State and it's going to be a great place to be for a long time.
 
Chelsea Gibson: Junior middle blocker from Spring Branch
On the Belles' match against Central Missouri in the semifinals of the South Central Regional:
It was a tough game, but we played really hard. We wanted it really bad but it just didn't go our way.  I'm really proud of all of the girls and we love our seniors.

On moving forward from this year's accomplishment into her senior season next year:
Having these accomplishments this season is really great but we are looking to do more next year. We are going to have to work hard in the spring and stay focused on what we need to do.

 
Celeste Bonter: Senior outside hitter from Ontario, Canada
On the Belles' match against Central Missouri in the semifinals of the South Central Regional:
It was back and forth and a battle. We found our comfort zone and then they would push us out of it. We were able to push them out of theirs also.
On her experience as an Angelo State Belle:
Coach promised me that I would be coming into a winning team and he definitely delivered that. I feel really fortunate that I got brought into this situation and this team. We had a really good run.
 

Kayla Smith: Senior defensive specialist from Kerrville
On her final season as an Angelo State Belle:
It has been a lot of fun. It's been really exciting and an adventure. I'm sad that it is over, but it was a great season to end on. I think we finally just got it as a team. We were really comfortable with each other on the court and played together as a team.
 

Debbie Ohl: Senior right side hitter from Hutchinson, Kan.
On the success of the Belles this season:
I think we had some really great leaders on the team. When things got rough, we knew who to go to. We were still trying to feel each other out last year, but our leadership this year, even the bench was big for us this year.
 

Alex Woolsey: Junior setter from Plano
On playing against UCM in the semifinals of the South Central Regional:
These games are always the most fun. The better teams you play and if you play well, that is the most fun even if you don't always win. Playing in an environment like this with a million fans yelling and heckling you it pushes you to work harder and it was a fun match.

On moving forward from this year's accomplishment into her senior season next year:
This is great, but I'm not satisfied with this and hope that the rest of the team isn't either.


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