SAN ANGELO, Texas – The No. 3 Angelo State Belle volleyball team defeated the UTPB Falcons in four sets on Tuesday night to remain undefeated at 7-0 overall and in conference, while the Falcons fall to a 2-6 overall record and a 1-6 conference record.
 
The Belles and Falcons started set one off slowly, trading points back and forth until the Falcons managed to grab two quick points off of two errors from the Belles to take a 6-4 lead over Angelo State. With Kailyn Gilbreath back to serve for the Belles, Angelo State scored eight unanswered points to take an 11-6 lead over the Falcons, with Gilbreath registering an ace, and Sophia Berg grabbing a kill while the Falcons had five errors.
 
UTPB responded quickly to the Belles run, breaking the Belles rhythm and finding their own to score six unanswered points to cut their deficit to just a point, trailing the Belles, 13-12. UTPB managed to tie the first set at 13-13 and at 15-15, but found their rhythm again and scored five more points to take a four point lead over Angelo State, 20-16.
 
The Belles found their rhythm once again, scoring four unanswered points to trail the Falcons by one, 21-20, with Gilbreath, Delaney Fuller, and Elsa Lamphere all registering a kill. The Falcons managed to grab three quick kills shortly afterwards, taking set one from Angelo State, 25-22.
 
A kill from Nailah Gordon began set two for the Belles to take a 1-0 lead over UTPB, but the Falcons responded quickly by taking the lead from ASU and extended it to two over the Belles, 4-2. Kills from Berg and Lamphere, along with errors from the Falcons, brought ASU to a 6-4 lead over UTPB. The Falcons tied the at 6-6, taking the lead with an error from Angelo State at 7-6, but an error from the Falcons tied the game at 7-7 with Morgan Preston to serve for Angelo State.
 
Preston served for six straight points for Angelo State as Gilbreath and Berg each registered a kill, as well as Lindsey Ledyard sneaking a kill past the Falcons defense, along with errors from the Falcons to bring ASUs lead to 13-7. Angelo State and the Falcons traded points back and forth for the rest of the match, with the Belles going on two separate three point runs to bring their lead to 21-12. A bad set by UTPB ended set two in favor for Angelo State, 25-17.
 
Set three began slowly as both team each scored three points early until two kills from Lamphere and Berg gave ASU a two point lead over the Falcons, 5-3. A kill from Berg brought Gilbreath back to the serving line for ASU, where she served for three straight points, with Berg and Lamphere both grabbing kills to bring the Belles lead to 9-5 over UTPB.
 
A kill from Gilbreath brought Makenna Hanssen to serve for Angelo State at 14-10, where she also served for three straight points, where Gilbreath registered two kills to bring ASUs lead to seven, 17-10. A service error brought Chloe Patton to serve, where Lamphere grabbed another kill to extend the Belles lead to eight over the Falcons, 19-11.
 
UTPB managed to grab some kills and cut their deficit to just five points, but a quick kill from Gilbreath ended set three as Angelo State took set three, 25-19.
 
Keeping their rhythm going from the last set, the Belles took an early lead over UTPB at 4-1, but several errors from the Belles and a kill from the Falcons brought UTPB to tie the match at 4-4. The Belles and Falcons traded points back and forth throughout the set until the Falcons managed to tie the set at 10-10 and took the lead by a point, 11-10.
 
A bad set from the Falcons brought Gilbreath back to serve for ASU, where she served for eight straight points as Baleigh Allen registered a kill and Berg smashed three kills to help bring ASU to a seven point lead over the Falcons, 21-14.
 
An attack error from the Falcons ended the fourth set, and the match, in favor for Angelo State as the Belles took set four, 25-17, remaining undefeated in conference play.
 
Key Players:

• Berg and Lamphere both led the Belles offensively against the Falcons, with both registering 13 kills and 14.5 points for Angelo State. Berg finished with a .323 hitting percentage, while Lamphere finished with a .205 hitting percentage, while both Belles registered three block assists on defense.
• Lindsey Ledyard registered 28 assists for Angelo State, grabbing 12 digs on defense and two kills on offense.
• Chloe Patton led the Belles defensively, registering 31 digs for the Belles while grabbing four assists and two service aces, scoring two points for ASU.

 
Up Next:
The Belles face the Falcons in the second match of the series on Wednesday, February 24 in the Stephens Arena, with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m.