ODESSA, Texas – Belle volleyball swept Texas – Permian Basin (25-20, 25-20, 25-12) on the road in Odessa Wednesday evening.
ASU improved to 22-5 overall and 8-2 in the LSC. The win moves the Belles to 14-3 against non-conference opponents. With the loss, the UTPB Falcons fell to 4-16 on the year.
"It was a solid win," said Belle volleyball head coach Chuck Waddington. "We played cleaner volleyball as the match progressed, which is something we have been striving for. Brianna [Sotello] and Abbie [Lynn] were pretty effective for us at the pins."
Abbie Lynn led the Belles attack with 13 kills and a season high .600 clip. This marked the sophomore's fifth consecutive game with double-digit kills. Lynn was followed by Alyssa Orr, who dropped in nine kills, and Morgan Seaton who tallied eight with a .429 hitting percentage.
Brianna Sotello marked her 15th double –double of the year dropping in 11 kills and leading the Belles defensive efforts with 10 digs. This was the sophomore's third consecutive match with a double-double. The outside hitter has chalked up double digit digs in nine of the last 10 matches and double-digit kills in 11 of the last 13 matches. The outside hitter also recorded a team second .500 clip for the evening. This was the second time this season that she has topped the .500 clip mark.
Allocating the ball for ASU, Maggi Jo Keffury tallied 42 assists and added seven digs on the night. The senior now leads the LSC with 1134 assist and an 11.94 assist per set average for the year. This also has the setter currently sitting at No. 1 in the nation in total assists.
Rounding out the Belles top performers, senior libero Katie MacLeay added seven digs to her conference leading 527.
The Belles got out to a slow start in the first set allowing UTPB to take a 5-3 lead. Battling back, ASU tied the set at 14-14 with a kill from Sotello, which was followed by another kill from Hasbrouck that would give the Belles a lead that they would not surrender. Up 20-18, Angelo State kicked off a 5-2 run that would close out the set with key kills from Lynn, Seaton and Sotello. ASU took the 1-0 lead in the match with a set score of 25-20.
Orr would open the second set with a kill that was set up by Keffury. Small runs were exchanged throughout the set keeping the two squads neck and neck until Orr dropped in another kill shot that jumped started a 9-3 run. After two consecutive kills by Lynn, UTPB gave the Belles the 25-20 set win with a pair of errors. ASU entered intermission up 2-0 on the Falcons.
The Belles came out of the break firing on all cylinders with kill shots from Seaton and Lynn. Micheala Sifuentes gave ASU a 6-2 lead with a service ace, before Lynn would get on a roll dropping in three kills and assisting Kelsey Blauser with a monster block. Sporting a 13-4 lead, Sotello chimed in with a pair of kills. After a kill from Cerbi Ritchey that gave Angelo State the 24-11, the Falcons attempted to get the ball rolling with a kill but then gave the Belles the set win when they followed with another attack error. The sweep was the 14th sweep of the season.
The Belles continue the road trip this weekend with stops at LSC conference rivals West Texas A&M on Friday, Oct 30 at 6 p.m. and Eastern New Mexico and on Saturday, Oct 31 at 2 p.m.
