SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State volleyball team returns to action at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Tarleton State in a Lone Star Conference match at Wisdom Gym – South in Stephenville.
The 12th-ranked Belles (13-3, 6-1 LSC) are coming off their first conference loss of the season, a defeat that came in five sets at West Texas A&M. ASU, which carries a seven-match winning streak over TSU, won the first matchup between the two schools with a 3-0 sweep at the Junell Center two weeks ago.
Tarleton State comes into Tuesday's match on a four-match winning streak after going into the WTAMU Fieldhouse last Friday and handing West Texas A&M its first home Lone Star Conference loss since 2005. The TexAnns (11-4, 6-1 LSC) have not lost since coming to San Angelo and followed their win in Canyon with
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Tarleton State TexAnns
11-4, 6-1 Lone Star Conference
Leaders
Kills: Katie Covell (152), Nikki McNorton (136), Stacie Murrah (127)
Assists: Danielle Barker (474)
Digs: Emily Klein (265)
Blocks: Nikki McNorton (80)
Aces: Danielle Barker (13) |
a four-set victory over Eastern New Mexico on Saturday.
“They only have one loss in conference and that is to us which means they will be trying to avenge that loss,” ASU head coach
Chuck Waddington said. “Any team that can go into “The Box” is a team that you have to take very seriously. They are very talented and athletic and I don't think they played their best match when they came here. I expect a much tougher match at their place.”
Shelbi Goode led the Belles in the first meeting against TSU with 17 kills, while
Alex Woolsey had 43 assists and
Kaelen Valdez contributed 15 digs. ASU had hit for a .228 percentage and limited the TexAnns to a .095 percentage, but two weeks later and coming off a loss the question coming into the current match will be how the Belles respond.
“We have to bounce back,” Waddington said. “We don't lose very often, but when we do there can't be any let down as we go into the next match. We have to get out and make sure that we are mentally prepared to do what we are capable of.”
ASU comes into the match leading the LSC in hitting percentage (.253), opponent hitting percentage (.111), assists (745/13.80 per set), kills (14.54 per set) and digs (19.56 per set).
Shelbi Goode leads ASU and the conference with 218 kills (4.19 per set) while
Alex Woolsey tops the LSC with 11.98 assists per set. Goode also ranks first in points with 4.59 per set.
Tarleton State has raked up conference sweeps in matches against Midwestern State and Cameron along with their four-set win over ENMU and five set victories over WT and Incarnate Word. The TexAnns are 2-2 overall in five-set matches with the Belles at 0-2. Nikki McNorton leads the TexAnns with a .341 hitting percentage, 80 blocks (1.60 per set) and points (3.88 per set). The senior from Houston is a returning first-team LSC member and leads TSU with 136 kills this season. Danielle Barker paces the TexAnns with 8.46 assists per set with Emily Klein steadying the defense with 4.73 digs per set.
“Tarleton is a tough place to play and they are coming in with a lot of momentum,” Waddington said. “We have to be ready for them.”
The Belles will return home for their next two matches following playing TSU. ASU will host Texas Woman's (13-3, 7-1 LSC) at 7 p.m. on Friday before welcoming Texas A&M-Commerce (12-4, 4-3 LSC) to the Junell Center for a 2 p.m. match on Saturday.
Record watch: Woolsey enters the match with 4,302 assists in her career following a career-high 71 on Saturday against WT. The senior setter is now only 484 assists away from Amber Nelson's all-time record with 13 regular season matches to play.
