The Belles (19-6, 10-3 LSC) are currently on a season-long seven match winning streak and will open the weekend at 7 p.m. on Friday against the conference-leading Lady Buffs (23-3, 12-0 LSC) at the WTAMU Fieldhouse in Canyon. ASU will then travel across the border to take on ENMU (6-16, 3-9 LSC) at 7 p.m. (CST) in a rare Saturday night volleyball match. WT, which has an opportunity to win its 18th LSC Championship this weekend, is currently on a 17-match winning streak which includes a 3-1 win over ASU at the Junell Center on Oct. 5.

ASU is coming off wins last week over Texas A&M-Kingsville and St. Edward's and is 7-5 away from San Angelo this season. The Belles have limited their opponents to a .095 hitting percentage during their current seven-match winning streak and leads the nation with 21.26 digs per set. WT tops the national rankings with 2.95 blocks per set. Click for Belle Notes
 
REGIONAL RANKINGS
The Belles are the top ranked team in the initial NCAA Division II South Central rankings with an 18-3 in-region record. Colorado School of Mines is second, Regis is third and West Texas A&M fourth. The LSC is also represented by Texas Woman's at No. 5.

COACH QUOTES

Head coach Chuck Waddington (Sixth season at Angelo State, 137-58 record)

On playing against West Texas A&M on Friday:
"They are a team that is playing really well because they play low-error and handle the ball really well. They have a game plan going into every match and they stick to it pretty well. We've got to make it hard for them to stick to the plan they have going into the match. We didn't do a good job of that the last time around."

On combating the potent Lady Buff block:
They are one of the best blocking teams in the country. There's no doubt about that. But we have to be smarter with our attacking than we were the first time we played them. We got very predictable the last time and played into their block. We have to win the serve and pass battle. That's been our emphasis for a while now and it will continue to be. Becoming predictable last time turned into us hitting into the block or making errors. We can't play into their strengths."

On playing against Eastern New Mexico on Saturday:
"It's definitely a trap game that we can't allow our focus to get away from. We will be sitting around all day waiting to play on Saturday because they have a football game and it will be a challenge. We have to be mentally strong. They are a team that is going to make the conference tournament and are doing a lot of good things this season."
 
RAMBELLE PLAYER SUMMARY
Maggi Jo Keffury comes into the weekend with 999 assists this season and after earning her fourth LSC Setter of the Week honor on Tuesday. Keffury, who also has 241 digs this season and is averaging 12.04 assists per set during the seven-match winning streak, is averaging 11.10 assists per set for the Belles in her first season after transferring in from New Mexico State. She is tied with Katie MacLeay for the team lead in aces with 23 and 19th in the nation in assists per set.

Maddie Huth continues to lead the ASU offense with 296 kills this season and the defense with 86 blocks. Huth has 1,053 kills in her career and 358 blocks. She is 10th all-time in kills and fifth in career blocks in program history. Huth has won three LSC Offensive Player of the Week honors this season and is a reigning all-American for the Belles. She has hit .288 with 97 kills during the past seven matches.

Shelby Wilt, the all-time career digs leader in ASU history with a continuously improving 1,680 digs, has 446 digs this season (4.80 per set). The junior, who earned LSC Libero of the Year honors last year, was named the LSC Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this season on Tuesday. She has also contributed 22 aces for the Belles. Sophomore defensive specialist Haley Bianco has 261 digs with MacLeay adding 303.

Kaelen Valdez is only 50 kills away from 1,000 in her career and 53 digs from 1,500. She has 317 digs and 102 kills in her senior season so far and 11 aces. Valdez recorded 15 kills last Friday on Senior Night against Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Arielle Bond is second on the team with 249 kills this season (2.96 per set), while Cerbi Ritchey has 145 kills (2.66 per set). Freshman middle blocker Courtney Bartusiak leads the team with a .283 hitting percentage and is second on the team with 45 blocks. She has also provided 163 kills and ranks sixth in the conference in her hitting percentage.

Huth is currently eighth in hitting percentage, fifth with her 296 kills and seventh in blocks among the conference leaders. Keffury is second in the LSC with 11.10 assists per set and third in her assists total. Bond is seventh in the LSC with her 249 kills with Wilt third in digs and Valdez ninth in digs.

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: 16 (16-4-33) Maddie Huth vs. A&M-Commerce, West Texas A&M, Cameron
Kills 5-Set: 24 (24- 5-55) Arielle Bond vs. Midwestern State (Sep 20, 2013)
Assists: 57 (5s) Maggi Jo Keffury vs. A&M-Commerce (Oct. 18, 2013)
Digs: 32 (5s) Shelby Wilt vs. A&M-Commerce (Oct. 18, 2013)
Aces: 4 –  Maggi Jo Keffury vs. A&M-Commerce (Oct. 18, 2013)
 
Angelo State at West Texas A&M Lady Buffs  (7 p.m. on Friday)
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 claimed the first regular-season meeting 3-1 in early October.  Laura Iwuchukwu leads the Lady Buffs with 152 blocks this season (1.69 per set) and is third in the conference with a .340 hitting percentage. She has 210 kills coming into the weekend and only 57 errors and leads the nation in blocks per set.

WT's Kameryn Hayes has 852 assists this season (9.47 per set), while Lauren Britten leads the Lady Buffs with 361 digs (4.01 per set). Lexi Davis leads the conference with a .346 hitting percentage and has 192 kills. Davis was named the LSC Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday after supplying 50 kills in a three-match week.

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: Angelo State will return from its road trip and host its final home match of the season at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 13 against Incarnate Word.