SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State volleyball team will play two matches this weekend in Stephenville's Wisdom Volleyball Gym following a three-set win over Texas A&M-Commerce on Tuesday at the Junell Center. The Belles (11-2, 6-1 LSC) will open the weekend with a 6 p.m. conference match on Friday against Tarleton State before venturing outside of LSC play with a noon match on Saturday against Newman.

ASU will wrap up the first half of LSC play with its match against the TexAnns (10-4, 4-3 LSC) and is 5-1 away from San Angelo this season coming into the weekend. The Belles have won 10 of their last 11 matches, while TSU has lost its last two matches after being swept by West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico last weekend. The TexAnns won a five-set match over the Belles in last season's regular-season finale in Stephenville. Newman (6-7, 3-5 Heartland) is coming off a sweep of Oklahoma Panhandle State and will TSU at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

"It's going to be a tough match in front of a loud crowd at Tarleton," ASU head coach Chuck Waddington said. "They're going to bring it. They are a high-end team with a lot of great players on their team. We're going to have to be prepared mentally for what we're about to face and then go out and get the job done physically."

 

Post by Angelo Sports.

Belle Roster Report
Shelby Wilt continues to lead the Belles from a defensive standpoint with 243 digs this season after a 20-dig performance against A&M-Commerce on Tuesday. A senior captain, Wilt has 2,105 digs in her record-setting career at Angelo State and is averaging 5.17 digs per set this season. Also a team captain, Katie MacLeay is second on the team with 143 digs this season (3.04 per set). MacLeay enters this weekend with 925 digs in her career at ASU after recording 11 against Commerce, 15 digs at ENMU and then 14 against the Lady Buffs in the past three ASU matches. The defense is also being bolstered by freshman Kelly Hasbrouck who has 131 digs (2.98 per set) and junior Haley Bianco who has 83 digs (2.24 per set). Bianco delivered 10 digs against the Lions and now has 703 digs in her career at ASU. Wilt is third in the LSC with her digs per set behind Casey Fletcher (MSU) who has a 5.80 digs per set average and Morgan Wilson (TWU) who is at 5.50. MacLeay is currently 15th in digs per set and Hasbrouck is 18th in the conference.

At the block, sophomore Zoey Hanrahan leads the Belles with 35 blocks after a three-block performance against Commerce and freshman Daeleigh Castile has 29 blocks. Hanrahan enters this weekend with 79 kills and a .289 attacking percentage, while Castile has 59 kills and a .285 percentage. Cerbi Ritchey has added 47 kills this season after a 10-kill night against the Lions and Brianna Sotello has 32 kills in her freshman season.

Alexa Johnson enters this weekend with 538 assists for the Belles in her first season at ASU after providing 38 assists in the three-set win on Tuesday. A sophomore transfer from Lamar University, Johnson is averaging 11.45 assists per set and has also provided 98 digs (2.09 per set) and has 36 kills. Johnson earned a LSC Setter of the Week honor after the second week of the season and currently leads the LSC with her assists per set average. She established a career-high with 57 assists in a five-set match against Arkansas Fort Smith and has a three-set high with 38 in wins over ENMU, Cameron and Commerce.

Mallory Blauser is coming off a 15-kill performance on Tuesday against Commerce leading ASU with 13 kills in the three-set win over Eastern New Mexico and 12 kills in the four-set loss at WT. Blauser, who is a sophomore in her first season with ASU after transferring from the University of Cincinnati, is averaging 3.91 kills per set this season and leads the team with 176 kills through the first 13 matches of the season. She is hitting at a .199 percentage and has 10 double-digit kill performances this season. Abbie Lynn, who is also in her first season with ASU, has made an immediate impact as a freshman. An Amarillo native, Lynn has 130 kills through the first 13 matches of her ASU career and is coming off a match against the Lions where she had 10 kills which followed a seven-kill performance against the Lady Buffs last weekend. Lynn has eight double-digit kill performances, while Arielle Bond has 83 kills this season and is hitting at a .189 percentage. Bond has 556 kills in her first three seasons (73 matches played). Blauser is currently third in the LSC in kills per set, while Lynn is seventh.

Tarleton State TexAnns
NEXT MEETING: Friday, Nov. 7 @ 7 p.m. /  Junell Center/Stephens Arena
Tarleton State snapped a 10-match losing streak to Angelo State with a five-set win over the Belles in last season's regular-season finale in Stephenville. The TexAnns snapped a three-match losing streak with the win over ASU, but could not carry the momentum to the postseason as their season came to an end with a four-set loss to A&M-Commerce in the first round of the LSC tournament. TSU finished the 2013 season with a 15-14 overall record and an even 8-8 LSC record which was good for the fifth seed in the tournament. Mary Schindler is in her 10th season as the head coach of the TexAnns.  Angelo State owns a 33-11 all-time advantage over Tarleton State entering the 2014 season.
 
Newman Jets
Saturday, Oct. 4, @ 12 p.m. //  Stephenville's Wisdom Volleyball Gym
The Belles lead the all-time series over the Jets with the last match ending in straight sets on Sept. 13, 2008 in Portales, New Mexico. The Jets are coming off a 15-12 overall record and an 8-10 Heartland Conference record in 2013. NU ended its season on a three-match winning streak with victories over Texas A&M International, Northwestern Oklahoma and Oklahoma Panhandle State, but did not advance to the postseason. The Jets are led by Natalie Rawson who is in her second season as the program's head coach after working at Midwestern State for three seasons. ASU and Tarleton State will be the only LSC opponents on Newman's schedule this season.