SAN ANGELO – The No. 25-ranked Angelo State volleyball team will open Lone Star Conference play at 7 p.m. on Tuesday against Texas Woman's at the Junell Center in a matchup of two regional tournament teams from last season.
The Belles (3-1) and Pioneers (3-1) met four times last season, with the two teams splitting regular-season matches before ASU earned a five-set victory in the LSC tournament and then ended TWU's season with a sweep in the NCAA Division II South Central Championship in Canyon. ASU owns a 32-19 all-time advantage over TWU coming into this season.
Tuesday's match follows the ASU Kathleen Brasfield Invitational where the Belles went 3-1 with victories over Missouri Southern, Arkansas-Monticello and Western New Mexico and a five-set defeat to Arkansas Fort Smith. The Belles are 41-4 in their last 45 matches at the Junell Center coming into the match against the Pioneers and have won the last five meetings against TWU in San Angelo dating back to the Pioneers sweeping the Belles on Oct. 10, 2009 on the Stephens Arena court.
The Pioneers are coming off the opening weekend of play with a 3-1 record after picking up five-set wins over Regis and Colorado-Colorado Springs, sweeping New Mexico Highlands and then suffering a five-set loss to Adams State at the West Texas A&M Britkare Lady Buff Classic in Canyon. TWU had a .178 attacking percentage in the four matches and limited opponents to a .119 percentage with the assistance of 44 total blocks which were double the amount it was blocked.
AVCA RankingsThe Belles fell to No. 25 in this week's AVCA Coaches Top-25 Poll after being ranked No. 19 in the preseason poll. Angelo State has now been ranked in 72 AVCA polls in program history and in 39 straight AVCA Coaches Top 25 Polls. ASU started its consecutive streak by entering the polls on Sept. 12, 2011 at No. 20 and have not exited the polls since. The Belles have been ranked as high as No. 9 on Nov. 5, 2012 and finished last season ranked No. 18.
"The first weekend saw a lot of top-25 teams drop matches," Waddington said. "We'll need to win all four this week to stay ranked."
BELLE ROSTER REPORTMallory Blauser led the Belles in the kill category last weekend with 67 (4.19 per set) and was named to the all-tournament team for her performances. A transfer from the University of Cincinnati, Blauser had a weekend-high 21 kills against Arkansas Fort Smith in a five-set match. She also had 17 kills in matches against Missouri Southern and Western New Mexico to go along with a 12-kill effort in a three-set win over Arkansas-Monticello. A Round Rock native, Blauser also contributed four blocks and 11 digs over the weekend.
Already Angelo State's all-time digs leader,
Shelby Wilt started her senior season the way she has performed the last three seasons by leading the Belles in digs with a combined 80 digs in the four matches. She established a season-high with 28 digs against UAFS and had 18 against MSSU and 17 in matches against UAM and WNMU. Wilt, who is a captain on this year's team, now has 1,942 digs in her career and was named to last weekend's all-tournament team.
In her first matches as a Belle, setter
Alexa Johnson had 176 assists (11.00 per set) and 29 digs. A sophomore from Nebraska, Johnson played for Lamar University last season before transferring to Angelo State this season. She established a season-high 57 assists in ASU's five-set loss to UAF before contributing 47 assists in a four-set win over WNMU. She also had 45 assists in the season-opener against MSSU and 27 in the sweep of UAM. Johnson had an ace in three of four matches last weekend and supplied seven kills against MSSU and six kills against UAFS.
Defensively, ASU junior
Katie MacLeay provided 59 digs (3.69 per set) and added three aces. MacLeay, who is a team captain, recorded a season-high 21 digs against UAFS and then 19 against UAM. She had double-digit dig totals in three of four matches and also had five assists.
Kelly Hasbrouck, a freshman from New Braunfels, added 45 digs and 10 assists for the Belles in her first collegiate weekend. Playing at defensive specialist and setter, Hasbrouck has established a season-high with 16 digs against UAFS and seven assists against UAM.
Haley Bianco added 21 digs over the weekend, while
Brooke Robertson had 15 digs.
A mix of underclassmen also had strong season-opening performances for the Belles as
Abbie Lynn finished the weekend with 32 kills and 10 digs,
Zoey Hanrahan added 22 kills and
Daeleigh Castile contributed 19 kills. Hanrahan, a sophomore from Pflugerville, and Castile, a freshman from Gilbert, Arizona, also added nine blocks each for the Belles. Castile also led the Belles with five service aces.
TEXAS WOMAN'S REPORTAngelo State will open conference play against Texas Woman's following a season where the two teams split their regular-season meetings before the Belles knocked the Pioneers from the LSC tournament and ended their season in the NCAA DII South Central Championships. ASU's
Cerbi Ritchey established her career-high with 16 kills against TWU in the conference tournament. TWU finished last season with a 22-11 record and finished second in the LSC standings with an 11-5 conference record. The Pioneers swept the Belles in Denton in the regular season before dropping a four-set decision to ASU in San Angelo two weeks later. TWU is coached by Shelly Barberee who is entering her 12th season.
TWU's Elizabeth Pennington, a freshman from Roanoke, led the Pioneers offense with 42 kills (2.33 per set) and also had 18 blocks in her first collegiate experience. Kelci Lind added 37 kills and seven block, while Mallory Kuechle contributed 36 kills, a team leading 56 digs and 11 blocks in the four matches. Jaqueline Santos, a senior from Brazil, led TWU with 22 blocks and also had 31 kills. At the setter position, junior Joey Redwine had 114 assists (6.33 per set) and also had 42 digs.
UP NEXT: The Belles will return to action this weekend with two LSC matches and a non-conference showdown against Harding. ASU will first travel to Lawton, Oklahoma to face the Cameron Aggies at 7 p.m. on Friday before taking on Midwestern State at noon on Saturday and then Harding at 3 p.m. Cameron is coached by former Angelo State assistant coach Qi Wang who led his Aggies to a 3-1 record last weekend.
