DENVER, Colorado – The fifth seeded Angelo State volleyball team will open its seventh trip to the NCAA South Central Regional tournament against Colorado School of Mines on Thursday evening in the Centennial State.

With the first serve scheduled for 5 p.m. MDT / 6 p.m. CDT, the Belles will enter its opening match with a record of 21-9 on the season. ASU is 2-2 when playing on neutral ground and 3-1 when playing at altitude in Colorado this season. On its last trip north, the team worked its way into the winner's bracket of the Colorado Premier Tournament, which resulted in the Belles taking third overall as it swept No. 17 Tarleton State. Angelo State also downed host Metro State in the process. Both the Roadrunners and TexAnns will join the Belles in the regional tournament.

The Belles will take on fourth seeded Colorado School of Mines in the opening round, a team that ASU has faced and defeated in three of the past four regional tournaments. The Orediggers will open the match with a 24-5 overall record this season. CSM is sporting a .272 clip thus far and is averaging 15 kills per set. In its last match, the Orediggers were eliminated by Metro State in the semifinals of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament.

The Angelo State offense currently boasts a .242 attack percentage on the year, while it is averaging 14.38 kills per set. It will be lead on the court by senior leader Brianna Sotello as well as sophomores Anna Graham and Sundara Chinn. Sotello leads the group with 435 kills this season. With a .262 clip on the year, she is averaging 4.03 kills per set. The San Antonio native has also played a major role on the ASU defense as she is averaging 3.03 digs per set and 46 total blocks. She heads the team with 10 solo blocks this season.

Graham and Chinn are equally as lethal along the net. Graham is averaging 2.53 kills from the middle blocker position. She also holds a team second .292 attack percentage on the season. Defensively, the Bushland native is second with 78 total blocks. Also patrolling the front line with 44 total blocks, Chinn has recorded 2.64 kills per set and a .230 clip to aid the offensive production.

Setting up the Belles big hitters will continue to be Meghan Parker. The sophomore has averaged a team-leading 9.46 assists per set. Parker has also assisted the attack firing a team-leading 39 aces over the net. She has also excelled defensively inking 2.18 digs per set in 2017.

Senior Morgan Seaton and freshman Bailey Mulder will head ASU's defensive duties in the post season. Seaton currently leads the team in the blocks department, as she is just two short of marking 100 total blocks for the third straight season. This averages her 0.93 blocks per set. Seaton has also added 212 kills to her total numbers this season. Midway through the season, Mulder stepped into the starting role at the libero position and has since thrived. During that time, she earned herself a Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week award, as she is digging 2.83 per set. She has also assisted the offense from the service line with 24 aces.

Adding depth to the Belles line up will be Bailey Drum, Eadara Files and Tulani Titley. Drum has contributed on both sides of the ball as she is averaging 1.99 kills per set and has tallied 41 total blocks on the season from the outside hitter position. Files is second on the squad with 3.74 assists per set this season and has added 153 digs to her overall numbers. Finally, Titley has averages 1.56 kills per set and also has 26 total blocks to her name this season from the middle blocker position.