SAN ANGELO – The No.25 Angelo State volleyball closed out its regular season with a sweep of Western New Mexico (25-18, 27-25, 25-17) as it honored its 2017 senior class.

The Belles finished the regular season with a 21-8, 13-7 LSC record as it looks forward to the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament. Turning in a solid .348 clip for the match, the ASU attack was led by seniors Brianna Sotello (19), Morgan Seaton (12) and Leiyona Young (8) in the kills department. Setter, Meghan Parker, did an excellent job distributing the rock as she once again led the squad with 51 assists. This marked her second highest amount of the season and he third match with at least 50 assists in 2017. Defensively, Bailey Mulder turned in 26 digs, while Jenna Markey co-led the Belles with three total blocks. The Mustangs close out its season with the loss and a record of 9-19 overall and 9-11 in the conference.

"I feel really good that our senior's played well and got some quality time," commented ASU Head Volleyball Coach Chuck Waddington. "Lieyona [Young] and Jenna [Markey] played great for us and it was nice to see them step up in a challenging match and against a team that has beaten us before. They rose to the occasion and I am really proud of them. We are starting to play better volleyball and every match we are playing a little bit better."    

It was fitting that four of the five ASU seniors began the match dropping in consecutive kill which gave the Belles a 5-2 lead. Angelo State would continue to build its lead, and with 12-8 on the board Ali Davison fire in three straight kills to push the lead to 15-8. The Mustangs tried to recover piecing together several small runs but would be unable to close in. With the score sitting at 24-18, a Seaton Kill followed by a big block from Young and Davison gave the set win to the Belles.

In the second set, Western New Mexico took advantage of Belle errors taking a 17-12 lead. A kill by Bailey Drum then started ASU on the rally road. The Belles steadily chipped away at the Mustang's lead. Trailing 22-18, a WNMU service error kicked of a 6-1 ASU run that would give Angelo State a 24-23 advantage. The Mustang's answered with two points and we just one away from tying up the match. However, Young hammered down the first of three consecutive kills that closed out the set and gave ASU the 2-0 set lead.

Building off the momentum from the previous set, Parker got things started for the Belles with a kill. This was followed by two more from Sotello to give ASU a 3-0 lead. Angelo State continued to pile up the points and maintained the lead throughout the set. With 21-17 on the scoreboard, a 4-0 Belles run would close things out in their favor. The final run saw kills from Sotello and Seaton, as well as Seaton, Markey block.

The Belles will now look forward to the Lone Star Conference Tournament in Stephenville, Texas. Third seeded Angelo State will kick things off for the tournament as it takes on sixth seeded Texas Woman's at noon on Thursday, November 16 . ASU is 1-1 against the Pioneers this season. The Tournament will conclude on Saturday, November 18 with the championship match.     

For more photos from the match and ways to purchase go to www.angelostatephotos.com.