SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State volleyball team travels to Denver, Colo. this weekend with a 4-0 record and ranked No. 11 in the nation. When the Belles arrive there, they'll join some of the nation's elite programs at the Colorado Premier Challenge being played on Friday and Saturday at Metropolitan State and Regis University.

The Belles open the tournament on Friday at 1 p.m. (CST) against No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney (4-0) and play again at 4:30 p.m. (CST) against Metro State (3-1). Saturday's matches will be determined by Friday's results. Other teams competing in the tournament include No. 1 Tampa (4-0), No. 4 Concordia-St. Paul (4-1), No. 9 West Texas A&M (5-0), No. 15 Truman State (3-1), No. 17 West Florida (3-1), No. 14 Southwest Minnesota State (2-2), No. 21 Regis (2-2) and Florida Southern (3-1). The tournament will be played at Metro State's Auraria Event Center and Regis University's Regis Fieldhouse.

ASU enters the tournament after beginning the season with sweeps of Dallas Baptist, CSU-Pueblo and Colorado Mesa before taking a five-set win over Arkansas Fort Smith last weekend at the ASU Invitational. This is the third straight season the Belles have opened the season with four consecutive wins. ASU went 2-2 last season at the Colorado Premier with wins over Cal State-San Bernardino and Lewis and losses to Regis and Colorado School of Mines. ASU avenged its loss to Regis with a win over the Rangers at the NCAA Division II South Central Championships at the Regis Fieldhouse.

Click the video to the right for interviews with Cerbi Ritchey, Haley Bianco and Katie MacLeay. Click for Belle Notes

COACH QUOTES
Head coach Chuck Waddington (Sixth season at Angelo State, 122-52 record)

On the outlook going into the Colorado Premier Challenge this weekend:
"We have some players who are a little banged up after our first weekend, so we're going to need some players to step up for us to be successful this weekend. We have been working in practice this week to get them ready. The bottom line is that we have to execute when we are playing no matter who we have on the court."
 
On the Belles' first match of the Colorado Premier against No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney:
"I've never played them or seen them, but they're top-5 every year so they must be pretty good. What I've heard is that they are pretty physical and take big swings with great defense. They handle pressure situations. I'm expecting them to test us."
 
On what the Belles did well the first weekend of play:
"We played great defense and served tough. We kept ourselves in the point throughout the matches because of those two aspects of the game."
 
BELLE PLAYER SUMMARIES

Maddie Huth was named the Lone Star Conference's Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday after 41 kills, 16 blocks and a .317 hitting percentage last weekend at the ASU Invitational. Huth, who is coming off an all-American junior season, now has 798 kills and 288 blocks in her collegiate career.

Shelby Wilt earned the LSC's Defensive Player of the Week after leading the Belles with 56 digs and also contributing 10 aces and 26 assists. The junior libero/setter was named the LSC's Libero of the Year last season and the conference's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year coming into this season. Wilt has 1,290 digs in 76 matches played at Angelo State.  

Leah McWilliams led the Belles with 43 kills last weekend at the ASU Invitational. The senior co-captain had 3.07 kills per set and a .220 hitting percentage. She also had 47 digs and four blocks. Kaelen Valdez added 42 digs and nine kills for the Belles in the first four matches of the season and now has 857 kills in her career.

Maggi Jo Keffury had 121 assists and 30 digs in her first weekend with the Belles, while sophomore Katie MacLeay contributed 42 digs. A defensive specialist/libero, MacLeay enters this weekend with 408 career digs at ASU and 22 service aces. Fellow sophomores Arielle Bond had 26 kills last weekend with Haley Bianco providing 18 digs and Cerbi Ritchey 22 kills. Courtney Bartusiak started her collegiate career with 29 kills and a .318 hitting percentage.
 
 
FIRST DAY OPPONENTS AT THE COLORADO PREMIER CHALLENGE

Angelo State vs. Nebraska-Kearney Lopers (Friday at 1 p.m. CST)
A battle between top-10 teams entering the season will go down in the first match of the Colorado Premiere Challenge at the Auraria Events Center with the Belles taking on No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney. The Belles hold a 2-0 all-time advantage over UNK with the last meeting coming in 1992 and ASU securing a 3-1 win. The Lopers are a consistent national power and are coming off a 35-3 record in 2012. Like the Belles, UNK was one win away from reaching the NCAA DII Elite Eight, but dropped a 3-1 decision to Concordia-St. Paul in the finals of the NCAA DII Central tournament. The MIAA champions, after going 16-1 in conference play, UNK returns 13 players and lost only four. The Lopers have made the NCAA postseason 17 times and the NCAA DII Elite Eight five times. Ashley Leitner, a senior outside hitter, leads UNK with 52 kills after the first weekend of play, while junior Liz McGowan had 62 digs and sophomore setter Erin Seele contributed 138 assists. UNK earned wins last weekend against South Dakota Mines, Black Hills State, Chadron State and William Jewell.
 
 
Angelo State vs. Metropolitan State Roadrunners (Friday at 4:30 p.m. CST)
The Belles will take on Metro State on the Roadrunners home court (Auraria Events Center) in the second game of the Colorado Premiere Challenge on Friday, Sept. 13. Metro State owns a 3-1 all-time advantage over the Belles with the last match coming in 1992 and the Roadrunners (who were ranked No. 6) sweeping the match. Metro State is coming off an 18-11 record in 2012 and a 13-6 mark in RMAC play. Last season the Roadrunners lost a five-set match to Colorado Christian at the RMAC tournament, but received an at-large bid to the NCAA DII South Central Tournament. Alysa Heath, a senior outside hitter who started her career at Wichita State, leads Metro State with 61 kills and a .355 hitting percentage, while freshman setter Brandi Torr had 120 assists last weekend. Alex Green, a senior libero, had 63 digs last weekend. Metro State is coming off wins over Cal State East Bay, Western Oregon and Holy James and a three-set loss to No. 12 Western Washington.
 
Up next: ASU will return home and open Lone Star Conference play next weekend with matches against Midwestern State and Cameron at the Junell Center. The Belles will host MSU at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20 and Cameron at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21.