SAN ANGELO – In front of a loud and raucous crowd inside the Junell Center, the Belles returned home for the start of Lone Star Conference Play, facing Oklahoma Christian for the first time since the 1970s.
The Belles opened set one with multiple scoring runs, including a 6-0 run towards the end of the set where freshman
Jaedyn Woolley held serve and produced three service aces.
Both teams went back and forth in the beginning of set two, but two different 4-0 runs for the Belles, including one to wrap up the set, to gain a 2-0 set advantage.
The third set for the Belles opened with a 3-0 scoring run, featuring a kill from
Kailyn Gilbreath as well as two service aces. A pair of Eagles points was followed by a 7-1 Belles run to put the match out of reach.
Defensively, the Belles out-dug the Eagles 59-45, with senior
Makenna Hanssen recording six on the night and eclipsing the 1,000-career dig mark. The senior from San Antonio becomes the 15
th player in program history, and the 10
th since rally scoring was introduced in 1999 to reach that mark.
Gilbreath led all players with eight kills, also adding in 21 assists. In addition to Woolley's 15 assists, both setters for the Belles each assisted more times than the entire Eagles squad (14).
Baleigh Allen and
Elsa Lamphere added in seven kills, with Allen hitting an obscene .778, recording no errors in nine attack attempts. Allen, along with Gilbreath, each blocked three Eagles attacks.
In addition to Hanssen,
Chloe Patton and
Delaney Fuller recorded 15 and 12 digs, respectively.
The Belles are now 8-2 on the season and 1-0 in conference play. They welcome UAFS into the Junell Center tomorrow afternoon.