SAN ANGELO – The No. 17 Angelo State volleyball team falls in its road match to Eastern New Mexico (19-25, 25-18, 25-16, 21-25, 8-15) on Saturday night in five sets.
The Belles, now 13-6 overall and 5-5 in the conference, managed a .205 clip for the match and out blocked the opposition 10-7. Brianna Sotello (18) and Morgan Seaton (12) headed the offense with double –digit kills. Two Belles, Eadara Files and Sotello marked double-doubles for the match. This was Files' first on the season as she turned in a team high 37 assist and 14 digs, and Sotello's team leading 10th. Coming away with the victory, ENMU now sits at 8-12, 5-5 LSC.
After taking an early 7-4 lead in the first set, four consecutive greyhound points took the lead away from the Belles. A kill by Ali Davison and an ENMU error briefly retuned the lead to ASU, but it would be unable to hold on. The Greyhounds rattled off another four straight for the final lead change of the set and would hold off the Belles for the remainder taking a 1-0 set lead.
Angelo State opened the second set on a mission as a 5-2 run was headed by a pair of kills from Sotello and one from Micheala Sifuentes, who also lead the defense with 15 digs on the night. With 6-4 on the board Anna Graham got into the action firing a kill to jump start a 6-1 Belles' run. The run also saw swings from Leiyona Young and Sotello, as well as an ace from Bailey Mulder, which was the first of a team most three for the match. ASU held on to the lead and with the score sitting at 23-18 a pair of Greyhound errors gave the Belles the set win.
Building off the momentum from the second set, Angelo State started the third set strong with kills from Graham and Seaton, who also recorded a .429 hitting percentage against the ENMU defense. The brought the set back to an even 4-4, before a pair of Young kills and a pair of Mulder aces pushed the Belles back ahead again. ASU would maintain its lead as it throughout the remainder of the set with help from several big blocks from Seaton, Sotello, Young and Bailey Drum. This assisted Seaton to a squad leading five total blocks and Sotello followed with team second four for the match. As in the previous set, an ENMU error would seal the deal for the set and give the Belles a 2-1 lead in the match.
Facing the loss at home, Eastern New Mexico would put up a fight in the fourth set. Despite ASU holding on to the lead through most of the set, with 20-18 on the board ENMU put together a 7-1 run that would take the set and force the two team sot the tie breaker. The Greyhounds opened up the subsequent set taking the early 4-1 lead. Seaton and Young attempted to get things back on track for the Belles with consecutive kills, but ENMU did not falter and continued to build on its lead. Ahead 13-8, Eastern New Mexico put the match away with a pair of aces.
ASU will return home for a pair of matches against Texas A&M –Commerce and Texas Woman's on October 20 and 21.
