SAN ANGELO – The No. 7-ranked Angelo State volleyball team returns to the Junell Center this weekend for Lone Star Conference matches against Eastern New Mexico and No. 11 West Texas A&M on the Stephens Arena court.

The Belles (10-2, 3-0 LSC ) have won 23 consecutive regular-season matches at home entering the weekend against the Zias (4-8, 2-1 LSC) and the Lady Buffs (12-3, 2-0 LSC). The Belles' last loss at home came in the postseason to WT in last year's LSC Championship final, while their last regular-season home loss came on Sept. 24, 2011 in a five-set loss to the Lady Buffs. ASU went 11-0 during the regular season at home last year and are currently 6-0 at home this year.

ASU will host ENMU at 7 p.m. on Friday before playing at 2 p.m. on Saturday against West Texas A&M.

ASU is on a four-match winning streak following wins over Incarnate Word and Texas A&M-Kingsville last weekend on the road. The Belles are ranked in the top-10 for the third consecutive week and will play their fourth nationally ranked opponent of the season on Saturday. ASU is currently 1-2 this year against nationally ranked teams with a win over No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney and losses to No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul and Southwest Minnesota State which is tied with the Belles at seventh in the AVCA DII Coaches Poll.  Click for Belle Notes
 
COACH QUOTES

Head coach Chuck Waddington (Sixth season at Angelo State, 128-54 record)
On playing against Eastern New Mexico for the first time this season:
"They are a team that seems to be on the rise right now. They have some very scrappy players and a new coach who is very experienced that I have a lot of respect for. We are going to have to compete against them throughout the match. They are going to serve tough and play strong defense."
 
On playing against No. 11 West Texas A&M for the first time this season:
"It's early in the season, but it does still carry a lot of weight for the postseason. It's an important match for both teams. They're always a really good team and it is fun playing against them."
 
On WT's Laura Iwuchukwu who leads the conference with 94 blocks this season:
"Laura is a wall up there for them and seems to block everything for them. She's developed into a great player and we have to know where she's at the net."

On the team's mindset going into this weekend's matches against ENMU and WT:
"We want to go 2-0 this weekend. That's our only focus."
 
On Maddie Huth after she was named the LSC's Offensive Player of the Week:
"Maddie did a great job of bouncing back from an atypical weekend the previous week.  She is working really hard to control the net offensively and defensively for our team. It's not just about kills for her. She's doing a great job of blocking balls defensively and changing the game that way too. She's working really hard out there for us."
 
On Maggi Jo Keffury after she was named the LSC's Setter of the Week:
"Maggi is continuing to work hard every day to be the setter we need her to be. She's never satisfied and is always striving to get better and better. She does a great job of recognizing the hot hand and going there. That's a very smart thing to do as a setter."
 

BELLE PLAYER SUMMARIES
 
Maddie Huth was named the LSC's Offensive Player of the Week for the third time in four weeks this season on Tuesday after dominating performances at UIW and Texas A&M-Kingsville last weekend. Huth, a reigning all-American, leads the Belles this season with 48 blocks (1.12 per set) and 128 kills (2.98 per set). Huth was the LSC's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and is currently 38th in the nation in blocks. The senior is the Belles' captain this season and enters the weekend with 885 kills and 320 blocks in her career. Huth is currently tied with Alaina Sivells (2006-09) for sixth in program history in blocks. Donna King (1988-91) is next on the list for Huth to pass with 333 career blocks. Gail Allison (1989-92) holds the program record with 475 blocks.
 
Maggi Jo Keffury earned her third consecutive LSC Setter of the Week honor on Tuesday after setting the Belles to a .263 hitting percentage for the weekend including hitting .337 in the win over the Javelinas in conference play. Keffury, a transfer from New Mexico State, has 446 assists this season at a clip of 10.88 per set. She also has 100 digs through the first 12 matches of the season.
 
Keffury is second in the conference and 18th in the nation in assists per set this season.
 
Shelby Wilt, a junior from Dalhart, continues to lead the ASU defense and has 171 digs (3.89 per set) this season which ranks sixth in the conference. The reigning LSC Libero of the Year and the conference's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Wilt has 1,405 digs in her career which ranks her third in program history. She is currently behind Shelby Pitcock (1,562 digs) and Jennifer Glass's program record of 1,603 digs. One of her career's best performances came last season against West Texas A&M where she recorded 41 digs in ASU's 4-set win.

Defensively, Katie MacLeay and Haley Bianco are providing consistent contributions to the Belles this season. MacLeay is second on the team with 139 digs (3.16 per set, 25 last weekend) with Bianco adding 85 digs (2.07 per set, 15 last weekend) in their sophomore seasons. Fellow sophomore Arielle Bond has 106 kills (3.03 per set) and 14 blocks this season. Bond is fifth in the conference with her kills per set average.

Leah McWilliams, a senior co-captain from Marfa, is second on the team with 111 kills (2.71 per set) and established a career-high 16 kills against Cameron two weeks ago. McWilliams also has 11 blocks and 84 digs, while Kaelen Valdez has 129 digs and 39 kills this season. Valdez is currently 15th in program history with 887 kills. Freshman Courtney Bartusiak had a .714 hitting percentage against UIW and has 63 kills (2.33 per set) and 18 blocks, while Cerbi Ritchey has 53 kills and 20 blocks with sophomore Kailyn Troxell adding 24 kills and freshman Zoey Hanrahan contributing 20 kills and four blocks. Bartusiak leads the conference with a .358 hitting percentage this season with only 15 errors in 134 attacks.
 
Belle Single-Match Highs
Blocks: 8 (2- 6) Maddie Huth vs. Southwest Minn. St. (Sep 14, 2013 in Denver, CO)
Attacking Percentage: .667 (13- 1-18) Courtney Bartusiak vs. CSU-Pueblo (Sep 06, 2013)
Kills 3-Set: 16 (16- 3-34) Leah McWilliams vs. Cameron (Sep 21, 2013)
Kills 4-Set: 15 (15- 7-34) Arielle Bond vs. Nebraska-Kearney (Sep 13, 2013 in Denver, CO)
Kills 5-Set: 24 (24- 5-55) Arielle Bond vs. Midwestern State (Sep 20, 2013)
Assists: 54 (5s) Maggi Jo Keffury vs. Midwestern State (Sep 20, 2013)
Digs: 24 (5s) Katie MacLeay vs. Midwestern State (Sep 20, 2013), 19 (4s) Shelby Wilt vs. UAFS, 19 (3s) Shelby Wilt vs. Nebraska-Kearney
Aces: 3 –  Shelby Wilt vs. Colorado Mesa, Dallas Baptist; Haley Bianco vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville; Katie MacLeay vs. Colorado Mesa, Nebraska-Kearney
 
 
Angelo State vs. Eastern New Mexico Zias (7 p.m. on Friday)
Angelo State's longest winning streak over a conference opponent is nine matches against ENMU, a string of victories which extends back to a five-set loss on Oct. 8, 2005. ENMU enters the match with a 2-1 conference record and a 4-8 overall mark after dropping a three-set decision against Lubbock Christian on Tuesday. The Zias are third in the conference in blocks with 88 total and 2.10 per set. Courtney Lawson leads ENMU with 135 kills (3.21 per set) with Lauren Frye adding 126 kills (3.00). Karra Day has 376 assists (9.17 per set) and Bree Anna Luecero has 41 blocks (1.08 per set).
 
The Belles swept both matches against the Zias last season, including the final regular season home match. ENMU finished last season in the conference cellar with a 1-19 record and with a 6-24 overall mark. Sia Poyer takes over the Zia program after eight years as the head coach at Valdosta State. ASU owns a 39-19 all-time advantage over ENMU entering the 2013 season.
 
Angelo State vs. West Texas A&M Lady Buffs  (2 p.m. on Saturday)
No matchup on the volleyball court evokes more intensity and emotion than when the Belles take on West Texas A&M. The Belles went 1-3 against the Lady Buffs last season, snapping a losing streak that dated back to 2004. WT currently leads the conference in hitting percentage (.240), with 158 blocks (2.98 per set) and are limiting opponents to a 0.118 hitting percentage. Laura Iwuchukwu leads the Lady Buffs with 94 blocks this season (1.77 per set) and is third in the conference with a .340 hitting percentage. She has 125 kills coming into the weekend and only 34 errors. WT's Kameryn Hayes has 469 assists this season (8.85 per set), while Lauren Britten leads the Lady Buffs with 194 digs (3.66 per set).

WT, which is currently on a six-match winning streak and is 4-3 away from Canyon this season, is coming off a 3-1 win over St. Mary's last weekend in San Antonio. The Lady Buffs will play at Tarleton State on Friday before coming to San Angelo.

Last season, the ASU win on the Stephens Arena court in the regular season was led by 41 digs from Shelby Wilt and ended a losing streak. But the Lady Buffs responded by knocking off ASU in the LSC Championship final and then ending their season with a four-set victory in the NCAA DII South Central final. Career highs were established for Maddie Huth with 24 kills, Haley Bianco had 24 digs and Arielle Bond had six blocks last year in the conference tournament against the Lady Buffs. WT finished last season with a 33-5 overall record and a 17-3 conference record. The Lady Buffs advanced to the NCAA DII Elite Eight with their win over the Belles in Denver and currently have a 52-16 all-time advantage over ASU. The rivalry will continue in 2013 with home-and-away meetings in the regular season with postseason meetings seeming inevitable. Jason Skoch, a two-time LSC Coach of the Year, is in his fifth season in Canyon.
 
UP NEXT: The Belles will have a short week with matches against Texas Woman's and Texas A&M-Commerce coming midweek after this weekend's matches. ASU will play at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at TWU and then play at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at A&M-Commerce.