SAN ANGELO – The No. 8 Angelo State volleyball team opens its 2016 Lone Star Conference schedule on Friday, Sept. 16 with Texas Woman's at 7 p.m. and follows on Saturday, Sept. 17 with Texas A&M –Commence at 2 p.m.

The Belles return home after a week long road trip to Colorado, where they came away with a 5-1 record for the week. ASU also saw three matches against AVCA top 10 opponents while in the Centennial State upsetting both No. 2 Wheeling Jesuit and No. 6 Central Missouri. The Belles are currently sitting at 9-1 overall on the season.

ASU has compiled a 36-14 record against the Pioneers took both meetings between the two in 2015. TWU enters the match with a record of 3-5 overall and are riding a three match losing streak. Texas A&M –Commerce, which the Belles will see on Saturday, is currently 5-4 overall and was victorious in its last match against Dallas Baptist. The Lions will make a stop in Stephenville to face Tarleton State on Friday before continuing on to San Angelo.  The Belles own the all-time series with TAMUC 41-21 and swept the Lions in both 2015 meetings.

Leading the nation and the conference with 402 total assists, Meghan Parker will be setting for the Belles this weekend. The freshman earned her second consecutive LSC Setter of the Week, with a performance this week of 243 total assists as ASU upset a pair of AVCA top 10 teams. This allowed ASU to record a .245 team hitting percentage and the San Antonio native to average 11.5 assists per match for the week. Against No. 2 Wheeling Jesuit, she chalked up a career high 53 assist, tallied four service aces and 43 total digs. Adding a pair of double –doubles to her numbers, she continues to lead ASU with five on the season. From the service line, Parker leads the Belles with 16 service aces.

Heading up the ASU offensive attack will be LSC Players of the Week, Mallory Blauser and Brianna Sotello. Second in the nation with 160 total kills and having been selected to the Colorado Premier Challenge All – Tournament Team, Blauser totaled 114 kills for the week. This averaged her 5.43 kills per match for a .322 clip. She recorded two games with 20-plus kills apiece, which included a season high 28-kill performance against No. 2 Wheeling Jesuit.  The senior has recorded seven consecutive matches with double-figure kills. Defensively, she totaled 50 digs and nine blocks overall. The Round Rock native added two double-doubles to her accolades for the week, as she tallied 13 digs against No.6 Central Missouri and 12 digs against No.2 Wheeling Jesuit.

Sotello, who is currently second on the squad averaging 3.18 kills per set and has totaled 108 on the year. Over this past week's road trip, she was second on the team with 65 kills and led the Belles with nine total service aces.  With 91 digs for the week, the junior recorded double- digit digs in all six matches this week including a season high 22 digs against No. 2 Wheeling Jesuit. This averaged the junior outside hitter 4.33 digs per match and helped hold opponents to a .166 hitting percentage.  She currently has a team second 128 digs total. Sotello also added eight total blocks to her defensive numbers in Colorado.

Also making her presence felt in the Belles offensive onslaught is right side hitter Abbie Lynn. She has provided excellent support for the Belles as she is third on the team with 81 total kills and a 2.38 kill per set average. She has assisted the defense with 16 total blocks, adding 10 of those against AVCA top 10 teams.

Leiyona Young, Morgan Seaton and Micheala Sifuentes, have provided a solid base for the ASU defense. Young (17) and Seaton (12) led the squad in blocks, while Sifuentes (95) led in the digs department in ASU's Colorado campaign.  Young has since claimed the team lead with 28 total blocks on the season. This averages the junior a block per set. Seaton has not only been a force on the defensive side of the ball, but has also provided excellent offensive support as she is maintaining a .372 clip in 2016. She is fourth on the Belles with 67 kills. Rounding out the group, Sifuentes has 146 total digs on the year and is averaging a stellar 4.29 per set. The Floresville, Texas native dug a season high 20 balls against No. 2 WJU and has chalked up five consecutive matches with double-digit kills.  

Also providing excellent depth to the Belles is freshman Tulani Titley, sophomore Mallory Davidson and junior Kelly Hasbrouck. Titley recorded a pair of career highs as she tallied eight kills and six blocks against the No.2 Cardinals. Davidson also recorded a career high against No. 2 Wheeling Jesuit adding 20 digs to her stats. The sophomore is tied for fourth on ASU with 19 service aces. Hasbrouck has marked 10 assists and 29 digs thus far.  

Fans can catch both of this weekend's games streaming live in high definition on Angelosports.com or on RamTV (Suddenlink 6/106).