SAN ANGELO – Regardless of seeding, records or results of previous head-to-head matches, all it takes is one loss and the opportunity to win a Lone Star Conference Championship tournament title instantly evaporates. That reality is understood by the Angelo State Belles this week as they prepare to host the conference tournament and for their quarterfinal matchup against Incarnate Word at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Junell Center.

No. 11 ASU (25-4, 18-2 LSC) swept both meetings this season against UIW (10-20, 7-13 LSC) and are the tournament's top seed, while the Cardinals are the eighth seed.  The winner of the match will play in a semifinal match at 7:30 p.m. on Friday against the Texas Woman's-Texas A&M-Commerce quarterfinal winner.

“This is our fifth straight year to be in the tournament and our upperclassmen know the significance of staying focused for each match,” ASU head coach Chuck Waddington said. “We have done a good job in years past of stepping up our level of play in the tournament and we'll have to continue doing that this year. It's a winner take all and loser go home scenario, and we've talked about what that means. You have to rise above your previous standards and take advantage of the opportunity.”

Angelo State is hosting the tournament after winning its first conference championship since 1992. The Belles finished the regular season with a .235 hitting percentage and limited opponents to a .116 percentage. UIW hit .150 on the season but come into the tournament with talented players who are more than capable of pulling off an upset.

The Belles have been a well-rounded team all season and come into the tournament third in the nation in assists per set and fourth in digs and kills per set. Alex Woolsey leads the Belles offensive attack from the setter position and has 1,200 assists for the season and holds the program's career record at 4,891. Shelby Wilt has become one of the conference's defensive stars and leads ASU with 542 digs (5.37 per set), while Shelbi Goode, Maddie Huth and Kaelen Valdez have had explosive attacking seasons. Goode leads the team with 373 kills, while Huth has added 293 kills and 80 blocks with Valdez contributing 259 kills and 377 digs. Chelsea Gibson had 163 kills, Emily Booth 120 and Katie Coleman 105 in the regular season.

Woolsey finished the regular season third in the nation in assists per set (12.12), while Wilt is 20th with 5.37 digs per set and Huth is 27th with a 0.357 hitting percentage. Goode is 29th in kills per set (3.85) and 39th in points per set (4.23).

Kelci Lind leads Incarnate Word with 261 kills, while Angelique Vidaurri has added 215 and Chetina Chavis 204 this season. Danielle Suarez has tallied 587 assists, while Lydia Werchan has 547 digs.  

“Incarnate Word does a great job of working hard to keep the ball in play,” Waddington said. “They're really good at making other teams make mistakes by keeping the ball in play. They are always fighting and never give up. Every set has been competitive that we've played against them and they are going to come in here wanting to win. They have an incredible never-say-die mentality that we have to fight against.”

ASU is 11-0 at home this season and come into the tournament ranked No. 11 in the AVCA national poll.

Angelo State has advanced to the past two tournament final matches, but ultimately fell to six-time defending champion West Texas A&M. The Lady Buffs enter the tournament ranked No. 9 in the AVCA poll and are the second seed in the tournament. ASU has won six tournament titles in its history, while WT leads the way with 13 titles. This year's tournament is the 26th LSC tournament. The Belles are 30-10 all-time in LSC Championship play and are making their fifth straight appearance in the tournament.

ASU won the first four LSC Championship tournaments (1982-85) and the 1991 and 1992 titles.