SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State volleyball team returns to the road this weekend with a pair of Lone Star Conference matches at Incarnate Word and Texas A&M-Kingsville.

The No. 9 Belles (22-3, 15-1 LSC) are 5-1 in conference road matches this season and will open the weekend with a 7 p.m. match on Friday at UIW before playing at 1 p.m. on Saturday against the Javelinas. ASU, which is won nine straight and 17 of its last 18 matches, swept UIW in the first meeting between the two schools, while beating TAMUK 3-1 on Sept. 25.

Angelo State is coming off two wins last weekend – including a 3-1 victory over long-time nemesis West Texas A&M – but insist that they are only looking forward as the season progresses.

“We are obviously at a high point right now in our season so far, but we know that we have a lot of work to do,” ASU head coach Chuck Waddington said. “We have to get past the euphoria of a great weekend. Our team expects to win those matches and now we have to move on and keep up our intensity. There are still four road matches remaining on our schedule and we have to be ready for those challenges.”

Alex Woolsey comes into the weekend with an even 1,000 assists on the season and needing only 95 more to eclipse Amber Nelson's all-time record at Angelo State. Shelbi Goode leads the Belles with 322 kills this season, while Maddie Huth has added 232 and Kaelen Valdez another 210 kills. Shelby Wilt was named the conference's defensive player of the week for the third time following her performances last weekend and has 450 digs this season.

While looking forward is the approach, Waddington remains impressed with the Belles' performances last week.
“I thought we defended really well last weekend by digging some really tough shots and putting our offense in good positions,” Waddington said. “We kept tons of points alive that could have very easily turned into points for the other team. That was huge for us.”

First up for the Belles is UIW. The Cardinals are 8-16 overall and 5-10 in conference play. ASU earned a sweep of the Cardinals last Tuesday at the Junell Center and UIW also dropped a weekend match against Abilene Christian. Angelique Vidaurri leads the Cardinals with 204 kills, while Lydia Werchan has 444 digs and Danielle Suarez has 452 assists.

“Incarnate Word is a scrappy team that has given us fits in the past,” Waddington said. “They're going to want to beat us on their home court. We were down 2-0 at Kingsville last year and they can beat us if we're not ready for them. Our team has to stay focused and treat every match like we have been this entire season. We can't have any letdowns.”