SAN ANGELO – A potentially season-defining weekend awaits the nation's fourth-ranked team this weekend inside Stephens Arena as the Belles host Texas A&M-Commerce on Friday before a matchup of nationally-ranked teams takes place on Saturday when #15 UT Tyler rolls into town.

The Belles sit at 16-2 on the season and 9-0 in conference play; they are one of two teams, along with UT Tyler, who are undefeated in conference play this season.

The Belles sit second in the conference in hitting percentage, assists, kills, and blocks.

Individually, Kailyn Gilbreath leads the Belles in kills (180) and assists (442). She is the only player in the LSC to rank in the top ten in attack percentage, assists and kills, and was named the conference's player of the week for the fourth time this season after averaging a triple-double last week, including her third career triple-double against Texas Woman's.

Delaney Fuller and Elsa Lamphere are both over 150 kills on the season at 154 and 151, respectively.

Baleigh Allen is averaging an LSC-best 1.26 blocks per set and is hitting .353 on the offensive side.
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Texas A&M-Commerce is 8-7 on the year and 7-3 in LSC play; they currently sit sixth in the standings with eight matches left to play. The Lions, who also competed in the Colorado Premier Classic earlier this season along with the Belles, are 0-3 this season against ranked opponents; however, after starting 0-3 in conference play, they have rattled off seven straight conference wins.

The Belles are 14-5 against the Lions under head coach Chuck Waddington; they have not played each other since the 2019 season and the Belles are undefeated against the Lions inside Stephens Arena since 2006 (8-0 record).

The Lions hit .216 as a team and have five players with over 100 kills on the season, led by Essence Allen's 156 kills. Setter Celeste Vela leads the conference with 10.44 assists per set.

Defensively, libero Lyric Hebert averages 4.61 digs per set and Maiya Dickie averages 0.88 blocks per set, 10^th in the LSC.
 
SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS
The only undefeated team left in all of Division II, UT Tyler is 14-0 on the season and 10-0 in conference play, tied with the Belles atop the LSC standings. The Patriots lead the conference in hitting percentage, assists (while also leading the country in assists) and kills.

This will mark the first time this season the Patriots have faced a ranked opponent. The only matchup between these two teams happened this past spring in the finals of the LSC Championship Tournament, which Angelo State won 3-2 over the Patriots in Tyler, also ending the Patriots' undefeated spring season in the process.

The Patriots Christina Escamilla and Maiya Pena are first and second in the conference in attack percentage, with marks of .446 and .388, respectively. Defensively, Pena is averaging 1.00 blocks per set and Savannah Guzman is averaging 4.85 digs per set, second-best in the LSC.

After this weekend, the Belles will be on the road to face UT Permian Basin on October 28^th and Western New Mexico on October 30^th.