CANYON, Texas – The Angelo State Belle volleyball team fought valiantly in the final regular season match against the West Texas A&M Buffs, but fell short in the fifth set to fall to a 13-2 overall record and a 10-2 conference record to end the regular season.
 
The Belles quickly took a 3-1 lead over the Buffs on a service ace from Delaney Fuller, but the Buffs quickly retaliated and tied the first set at 3-3, taking the lead and extending it to 7-3 over Angelo State. Kills from Nailah Gordon and Sophia Berg cut the Belles deficit to four points at 14-10.
 
An ace from Lindsey Ledyard and two kills from Kailyn Gilbreath cut the Buffs lead over the Belles to three, 17-14, before the Buffs took the serve back from Angelo State and extended their lead over ASU to five off of a service ace, 20-15. The Belles attempted take the lead back from the Buffs, but the Buffs offense and quick kills quickly put an end to the Belles comeback attempt to take the first set, 25-19.
 
Set two started off well for the Belles as the Buffs began with a service error, Berg, Grace White, and Delaney Fuller all registered kills to bring ASU to an early 5-1 lead over WT. The Buffs managed to cut the Belles lead to one, and eventually tied the set at 7-7, but the Belles snagged two kills from Gilbreath and Fuller, along with two errors from the Buffs, and took a three-point lead over WT, 12-9.
 
Kills from Baleigh Allen, White, and Fuller extended the Belles to four over WT at 15-11, but the Buffs managed to five unanswered points to take a lead of one over the Belles, 16-15. Kills from Fuller and Gilbreath tied the second set up at 18-18, and a kill from Allen and an error from WT gave the Belles a one-point lead, 20-19.
 
A kill from Allen and multiple errors from the Buffs ended set two in favor of Angelo State as the Belles defeated the Buffs 25-21 to take the second set.
 
Set three began with Gilbreath registering back to back service aces over the Buffs, but West Texas A&M retaliated quickly and scored two quick points to tie the set at 2-2. Multiple kills from Fuller and errors on the Buffs side quickly extended the Belles lead to four over WT, 8-4. Chloe Patton served twice for Angelo State, registering an ace while Gilbreath grabbed a kill to grow the Belles lead to 12-6 over the Buffs.
 
Angelo State and West Texas A&M began trading points back and forth between each, fighting tooth and nail to outscore the other until a kill from Gordon gave the Belles a six-point lead over the Buffs, 20-14. An error from the Buffs and a kill from Allen kept the Belles lead at six, 22-16, but the Buffs managed to cut their deficit in half to trail the Belles by three, 22-19.
 
Two kills from Gordon and Allen, plus an error from the Buffs ended the third set in favor of Angelo State as the Belles took a 2-1 set advantage over West Texas A&M, 25-19.
 
Several kills from Gordon and Fuller, along with multiple errors from the Buffs gave the Belles a quick 6-1 lead over the Buffs to start the fourth set off. West Texas A&M managed to cut the lead to two off of multiple kills at 7-5, but kills from Gordon, Gilbreath, and Fuller brought the Belles led back to five over WT, 10-5.
 
WT was determined to give the Belles a hard time in this set, scoring multiple points off of kills and errors from Angelo State, eventually tying the set at 14-14. WT managed to take the serve from the Belles and scored three unanswered points to take a 17-15 lead over the Belles, but Angelo State answered back with three unanswered points of their own, taking the lead back from WT, 18-17.
 
The Belles and Buffs traded points back and forth once again, until the Buffs managed to take a two-point lead over the Belles, 22-20. Angelo State fought hard to take the lead back from West Texas A&M, but just fell short as the Buffs defeated Angelo State in set four, 25-22, to send the match into the fifth set.
 
Set five began slowly for the Belles as West Texas A&M managed to six points early to take a 6-2 lead over Angelo State. An error from the Buffs sent freshman Hannah Shipman to serve for the Belles, where she served for two serves as WT made several more errors to trail the Buffs by one point, 8-7.
 
Two kills from Gilbreath and White tied the fifth set at 9-9, but set five would belong to the Buffs as West Texas A&M served for six straight unanswered points to take the fifth set, and the match, to defeat the Angelo State Belles, 15-9.
 
Key Players:

• Fuller led the Belles offensively against the Buffs, registering 17 kills and grabbing 19.5 points for Angelo State and finishing with a .300 hitting percentage. Fuller finished the match with one assist, one service ace, one solo block and one block assist, and four digs on defense.
• Gilbreath showed her skills as a setter against WT, registering 32 assists against the Buffs, while registering 12 kills for the Belles and hitting a .139 clip. Gilbreath finished with two service aces, two block assists, and five digs, scoring 15 points for Angelo State.
• Patton led the Belles defensively against the Buffs, registering 27 digs against the Buffs offense. She also registered five assists, one service ace, and scored one point for the Belles.

 
Up Next:
Angelo State begins Lone Star Conference tournament play with the conclusion of the regular season, with the opening round beginning on Tuesday, March 23. Since Angelo State won its division, the Belles receive a bye past the opening round, along with other divisional champions, Texas A&M Kingsville and the University of Texas-Tyler. Angelo State will open LSC tournament play on Wednesday, March 24, and for more information about who we will be playing, make sure to check angelosports.com for more updates.