SAN ANGELO – The No. 12 Angelo State volleyball swept (29-27, 25-22, 25-17) its way into the ASU history books with its victory over Metro State on Saturday night to advance to the NCAA Elite Eight in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The Belles stated the final set of the match with a Morgan Seaton kill. Mallory Blauser, Abbie Lynn and Brianna Sotello all followed with kills of their own to give ASU a 5-4 lead. The two teams traded the lead three times before, down 8-9, Angelo State embarked on a 12-4 run that was kicked off by another Seaton kill to regain the lead. This run saw big hits from Lynn Blauser and Sotello, as well as a solo block from Sotello.  With 20-13 on the board, Metro state would attempt a rally, but a swift kill followed by an ace from Sotello got the Belles back on track. After a service error that would give MSU its last point of the match, Blauser would hammer down two of the final three points finishing with a thundering kill to send the Belles to the winner circle where they would receive the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament championship trophy.   

Improving to 34-3 overall with Saturday's victory, the Belles will make the trip to the NCAA National Championship Tournament for the first time in program history.  The match-up was the last in the Stephens Arena at the Junell center where the Belles improved its home streak to an undefeated 20-0.    ASU offensive attack inked a .239 attack percentage for the match, while the defense held the Roadrunners to a .140 clip. Three Belles, Blauser, Sotello and Meghan Parker, each recorded a double-double for the match. With the loss, Metro State caps its season with a final record of 28-5.  

Blauser and Sotello led the ASU attack against MSU. Blauser inked 22 kills for the afternoon marking her third match of the season with at least 20 kills. She also led the squad marking an outstanding .365 attack percentage and three aces from the service line. Defensively, she added 11 digs to her final numbers. Sotello followed chalking up a team second 11 kills and a single ace against the Roadrunners. On the defensive side of the ball the junior totaled a team second 14 digs and the only solo block of the match.

Mallory Davidson, Micheala Sifuentes, Abbie Lynn and Seaton headed the Belles stout defense in this championship match. Davidson led the squad turning in a 23 dig performance, which marked her seventh match with at least 20 digs. Sifuentes added her 14^th double-digit dig match of the season as she recorded a team third 12 digs on the day. Lynn and Seaton both led the team with a pair of total blocks each. Offensively, Seaton recorded a team third nine kills from the middle blocker position and inked a team second .300 clip.

Continuing to set up the Belles attack, Parker added 39 assists to her season total of 1379. The AVCA Region Freshman of the Year also tallied 11 digs to complete her 10^th double-double of the season. She dropped in a single ace from the service line as well.  

The Belles fired in the first kill of the match with a monster Blauser kill that was set up by Parker. Metro State would answer taking a 7-4 lead, before Tulani Titley fired in a pair of kills from the middle of the court. This was followed by a bad set from the road runner, which allowed to game to be tied at seven. A large run from MSU ensued, returning the lead to the Roadrunners with 16-10 on the board. The Belles would chip away at the led with Blauser dropping in a service ace to put ASU back on top, 23-22. The two teams would trade points extending the first set far past the normal 25 points. With MSU in front 27-26, the Belles would go on a three point tear to secure the set win with Blauser rocketing in the final point for the set.

The second set started with another back-and-forth battle, as no team could build a gap in the beginning. MSU opened up a small lead at 12-9, but ASU immediately scored five of the next six points to go ahead again. The Roadrunners and Belles would trade runs, with the Roadrunners regaining the lead with each team closing in on 25 points. With Metro State up 22-20, Angelo State would once again fortify itself and score the next five points to win set two.