SAN ANGELO, Texas – Angelo State volleyball will travel to Stephenville to take on Tarleton State for first place in the LSC in a showcase of some of the conference's top talent on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.
The Belles improved to 19-4 and 8-1 in the conference last weekend adding another pair of sweeps to its 2015 record. These brought ASU to 13 total sweeps on the year. The Texanns are entering the mid-week match-up 18-3 on the year and mirror the Belles conference record at 8-1. The last meeting between the two squads resulted in a 3-1 victory at the Junell Center for ASU.
"We are both very different teams," commented ASU head volleyball coach Chuck Waddington. "That was our first conference match for the both of us and I think it will be a very different kind of match-up this time around. Hopefully, the outcome will be the same. They have one of the best players in the country on their team and we have to prepare for that and the atmosphere will be a zoo with a lot of people there. We are going to have to be mentally focused for what is going to go on there and be ready for a physical challenge."
The Belles will once again look to its attack leaders, Mallory Blauser, Morgan Seaton and Abbie Lynn. Blauser capped the week off with 28 kills which averaged her 4.67 kills per set and a .338 clip. She also accrued a team leading four service aces in the two matches. Defensively, she contributed 14 digs last week. The junior outside hitter is currently third in the LSC in total kills (302) and kills per set (4.16).
Newcomer Seaton has been on a tear as of late racking up a 20 kills at 3.33 kills per set last week. Her .475 hitting average and seven total blocks were team highs for the week. She has broken into the top five on the squad in total kills with 79 on the year. Lynn added 19 to that total and averaged 3.17 kills per set with a .417 hitting average. She is currently third on the team with 180 kills and a 2.50 average for the season.
Allocating the ball for ASU is setter Maggi Jo Keffury. She averaged 13.83 assists per set totaling 83 assists and added six kills against Texas A&M – Commerce and Texas Women's University last week. The senior is second in the LSC with 11.84 assist per set and leads the category in total assists with 888.
Fortifying the Belles defense has been Katie MacLeay. The senior libero leads the team and the conference with 5.83 digs preset and a total of 443 on the year. She is also in the top 10 nationally in total digs for the season. She has assisted the Belles in holding opponents to a .106 clip during the squad's current four match winning streak.
Sophomore Brianna Sotello has certainly been an all-around contributor for ASU this season. She is second on the team's kills list with 280 and third in both service aces (14) and assists (27). Defensively, she is second in digs (273) and third in total blocks (35). During last week's home stand she tallied 14 kills and a team leading 30 digs averaging 5.0 per set.
ASU will also look to Alyssa Orr, Zoey Hanrahan, Kelley Hasbrouck and Micheala Sifuentes to make major contributions against the Texanns. Orr chalked up seven kills and three total blocks on the week, while Hasbrouck (13) and Sifuentes (11) added double-digit digs to the cause. Hanrahan is the team leader in total blocks with 56. The middle blocker is also carrying 165 kills and .294 hitting percentage for the season.
