COMMERCE, TEXAS – The Angelo State volleyball team battled through three sets against conference opponent Texas A&M – Commerce to secure the sweep (25-24, 25-23, 26-24) on the road Tuesday evening.

After a lengthy trip from Springfield, Massachusetts, to Commerce, Texas, the Belles had to dig deep to fight through three sets. The attack was led by Brianna Sotello and Mallory Blauser, each posting 14 kills for the match. Maggi Jo Keffury assisted the ASU attack that hit .266  with 37 assists and hitting a solid season high .750. Katie MacLeay notched her 10th match of at least 20 digs with 21. 

"Brianna (Sotello) and Mallory (Blauser) really carried the load for us tonight," ASU head volleyball coach Chuck Waddington said. "They both took big swings and were able to keep the other team off-balance. We started off a little slow but we picked it up and those two really were big. Abbie (Lynn) took some nice ones on the right side and Zoey (Hanrahan) was really effective in the middle. What I like most is Maggie Jo (Keffury) did a great job distributing the ball."

After Commerce jumped out to a lead to start the first set, freshman Micheala Sifuentes, who tallied a season high three assists, would set up Sotello for a kill that would tie the set at 11. This was immediately followed by Abbie Lynn adding one of her eight kills to give the Belles their first lead of the set. The two teams would then exchange the lead several times before Sotello would close it out in spectacular fashion with a service ace.

TAMUC again started the second set with the lead until midway through when Zoey Hanrahan added her own pivotal service ace to give ASU the lead. The junior also added eight kills in the match. Though the Lions would attempt several times to leap back in front the Belles offense kept pressure on to close out the set 26-24.

Coming out of intermission with a 2-0 set lead, ASU would still have to battle through the third set. For the third time, Commerce started the set scoring early, however this is where Angelo State showed its resilience and never let the opposition increase its lead by more than three points. Tied at 24, Blauser fired two straight kills and placed the win into the books.
   
"This was not an easy win if you look at the scores," Waddington said. "It was down to the wire in every single set and what I like about my team is we stayed resilient and we finished points off when it mattered most."

The Belles look to continue their undefeated conference run this Friday against Eastern New Mexico at 7 p.m. and Saturday against West Texas A&M at Stephens Arena at the Junell Center.