SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State volleyball team earned its second straight win Saturday afternoon in the Stephens Arena at the Junell Center, defeating Texas Woman's 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 26-24).
The Belles moved to 15-6 overall with the win and now have a 7-5 record in Lone Star Conference play.
"I loved that we got to play here in front of a great crowd this weekend," Angelo State Head Volleyball Coach Chuck Waddington said, "and those were two huge wins for us. We were trying to start the second half of conference play on the right foot, and I think we did that."
ASU held TWU to just a .113 hitting percentage for the match and were led by senior Brianna Sotello, who had 18 kills and 14 digs for her 11th double-double of the season.
The two teams battled back and forth early on in the first set, trading points all the way to a 10-10 tie. Morgan Seaton then fired in a kill to spark a 4-0 run for the Belles that gave them some breathing room. Seaton ended up leading the team with a .318 hitting percentage.
Angelo State held onto the lead for the rest of the match, never allowing the Pioneers closer than two points, and closed out the match with five of the last seven points, capped off by a kill from Anna Graham. Graham ended the match third on the team in kills with 12.
The Belles took an early lead in the second set as well, scoring five straight points to go up 9-3 on a kill from Sundara Chinn. The Pioneers battled back with eight straight points later in the match taking a lead for the first time in the set at 15-13.
ASU went on another five point run with Sotello at the service line to go up 19-16. The run included a pair of kills from redshirt freshman Bailey Drum, who finished the match with a career-high 13 kills. Both of Drum's kills in the run were assisted by setter Meghan Parker, who had 34 assists as well as 10 digs in the match. It was her fifth double-double of the season.
Angelo State was still on top at 23-22, but TWU rattled off three straight points to win their only set of the match.
TWU took an early 7-4 lead in set No. 3, but ASU battled back to tie it up 7-7 on a kill from Sotello. Angelo State then scored seven of eight points, including five points with Bailey Mulder serving, to take a 14-11 lead. Mulder made her second career start at libero in the match and recorded a career-high 30 digs.
The Pioneers took the lead once again after a six-point run that put them up 21-18 when Angelo State took a timeout. The Belles came out of the team huddle and scored seven of the next eight points to take the set 25-22.
ASU's run continued into the fourth and final set, where they scored the first three points to take an early lead. Their longest run of the match came in the fourth set, scoring eight straight points to go up 11-2. The Pioneers fought back with a long run of their own to pull within two at 19-17, but ASU held on for the four-set win.
The Belles have a quick turnaround for their next match, taking on Tarleton State at 7 p.m. in Stephenville.
