PORTALES, N.M. – Arielle Bond recorded 13 kills and had a .423 hitting percentage to help lead the No. 17-ranked Angelo State volleyball team to a Lone Star Conference sweep of Eastern New Mexico on Saturday at the Greyhound Arena.
The Belles (20-7, 11-4 LSC) also swept the season series against the Zias (7-17, 4-10 LSC) Â and in the process surpassed the 20-win milestone for the third straight season and for the fourth time in the last six seasons.
"It was a good win for us," ASU head coach
Chuck Waddington said. "We played pretty clean and took care of business in a match that we were supposed to win. And we did in a way that we were supposed to do it. Last night was a tough loss where we got to see West Texas A&M receive its trophy right in front of us on their court. It was tough to swallow and it was really good to see our kids respond today with a strong match."
ASU will now host Incarnate Word at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in its final match of the season at the Junell Center before completing the regular season with a noon match next Saturday at Tarleton State.
Kaelen Valdez had 10 kills and nine digs for the Belles in the three-set win, while
Maddie Huth added seven kills and three blocks. Defensively,
Shelby Wilt had 15 digs,
Haley Bianco another 12 digs and
Katie MacLeay supplied 11 digs in a team effort which limited the Zias to a .018 hitting percentage.
Maggi Jo Keffury directed the offense at the setter position with 32 assists and helped the Belles to a .239 team hitting percentage.
Cerbi Ritchey added to the offensive production with six kills and hit .308, while
Courtney Bartusiak contributed two kill and
Kailyn Troxell and
Zoey Hanrahan one kill each.
Lauren Frye led the Zias with nine kills, while Kennedi Catano had 11 assists and seven digs and Hayley Couch recorded a team-high 15 digs. The Zias committed 20 errors, while the Belles limited their miscues to 13.
Angelo State improved to 7-3 in road matches this season with the win.