SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State volleyball team is back inside the Stephens Arena - Junell Center for a Homecoming weekend that will see St. Edward's and St. Mary's take on the Rambelles. Friday night's match against the Hilltoppers will double as Youth Sports Night as well as the Belles' annual Dig Pink match. 

GAME PROMOTION – YOUTH SPORTS NIGHT (Friday, October 20th vs. St. Edward's): Kids eighth grade and under, accompanied by a parent, will get in free while wearing their youth sports jersey. Accompanied parents will receive a discounted rate.

LAST TIME OUT
The Belles went 2-0 this past weekend on the road against Lubbock Christian and Eastern New Mexico, rebounding from dropping their first set against the Lady Chaps to win the next six sets the rest of the weekend. Elsa Lamphere led the Belles with 29 kills this weekend while hitting .356. Laney Dale averaged 6.86 assists per set as the Belles hit .258 as a team, and Caleigh Enax averaged 5.29 digs per set while the Belles held their opponents to a .138 attack percentage. 

DALE MAKES HISTORY
Senior setter Laney Dale became the eighth player in program history to eclipse the century mark in assists, doing so against LCU this past Friday. She is the first Belle to reach that mark since former Belle Lindsey Ledyard did so in 2020; Dale sits only 26 assists behind Ledyard for seventh all-time for assists. 

LAMPHERE NAMED LSC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior outside hitter Elsa Lamphere earned her first LSC Player of the Week award on Tuesday, being named the Offensive Player of the Week as the Belles picked up a pair of wins against LCU and ENMU. She had 29 kills over seven sets of action and hit .356 for the week. The longest-tenured Belle on this year's team, this is the first weekly conference honor for Lamphere. 

BELLES IN THE POLLS

•     The Belles are receiving 57 votes in the AVCA Top 25, the second-highest placed LSC team in the AVCA poll and just three positions out of the top 25. 
•     The Belles ended the 2022 season as the eighth-ranked team in the LSC standings, qualifying for the LSC Tournament. The Belles have qualified for the tournament every season under Waddington. 
•     The Belles were picked fifth in the LSC Preseason Poll behind West Texas A&M, UT Tyler, DBU, and Texas A&M-Kingsville.
•     They are one of three LSC teams to appear in the poll, behind fifth-ranked West Texas A&M and ahead of UAFS, who are receiving five votes. 
•     The Belles started the 2022 season ranked 13th in the country before dropping to 23rd the following week and falling out of the poll the next week, failing to rejoin at any point during the rest of the season. 
•     The Belles started the 2021 season ranked first in the country off the heels of the 2021 AVCA National Championship; they spent the entire 2021 season within the top 25 of the poll. 

Game 1 - DIG PINK & YOUTH SPORTS NIGHT
RV Angelo State vs. St. Edward's
Friday, October 20th - 6 p.m.
Stephens Arena - Junell Center

The Hilltoppers are 7-13 on the season and 3-5 in conference play. They are coming off a week in which they lost to St. Mary's and Western New Mexico. The Belles are 21-9 all-time against Hilltoppers, having won the last seven matches. This marks the first time the Hilltoppers will take on the Belles in San Angelo since 2016. 

The Hilltoppers average 11.31 kills per set and are hitting .147 as a team. Kelli Fording and Addy Badley lead the team with 2.62 and 2.20 kills per set, respectively, while Badley leads the squad with a .305 hitting percentage. 

Defensively, the Hilltoppers average 17.32 digs per set and 1.85 blocks per set; opponents are hitting .163 against the Hilltoppers this season. Sarah Konovodoff leads the team with 5.26 digs per set, which is the second-best in the league this season. Konovodoff has ten matches this season with 20 or more digs. 

LAST SEASON VS. SEU
The Belles swept the Hilltoppers last season in Austin; they hit .359 as a team, only committing seven attacking errors. Dale had 24 assists and ten digs in the match while Kinnison had ten kills and Kayla Baer had 11 assists and ten digs. Maya Smalls led the Hilltoppers with 12 kills while Konovodoff had 17 digs. 

Game 2
RV Angelo State vs. St. Mary's
Saturday, October 21st - 2 p.m. 
Stephens Arena - Junell Center

The Rattlers are 10-9 on the season and 5-3 in conference play. Last week, they claimed a pair of road wins over St. Edward's and Western New Mexico. The Belles are 24-14 all-time against the Rattlers, and this will be the Rattlers' first time facing the Belles in San Angelo since 2018. 

The Rattlers average 12.10 kills per set and are hitting .189 as a team. Landri Withers averages a team-high 2.77 kills per set while Alicia Virthe chips in 2.53 kills per set. 

The Rattlers' defense holds opponents to a .180 attack percentage; they average 16.03 digs per set and average 1.83 blocks per set. The defense is anchored on the back line by sophomore libero Alyssa Coehl, who averages 4.19 digs per set. The front line is led by Dallasstar Johnson and Landry Cate, who average 0.83 and 0.82 blocks per set, respectively. 

LAST TIME VS. STMU
The Belles swept the Rattlers back on September 15th in Kingsville at the LSC Crossover. The Belles hit .315 as a team and had three players - Kinnison, Torres, and Parrish - in double digits for kills. Parrish had ten digs for a double-double, and Dale led the team with both 21 assists and 12 digs.

PERSONAL BESTS THIS SEASON

•     Twelve Belles have recorded at least one personal best this season.
•     Setter Kayla Baer had three service aces against UAFS on Sept. 16, including two in a row that gave the Belles the lead in the fifth set.
•     Setter Laney Dale recorded a pair of kills against New Mexcio Highlands on Sept. 5; she has seven kills this season, exceeding her total from the 2022 season. She also set a new career high with three service aces against East Central on Sept. 9 and has seven double-doubles this season. 
•     Libero Caleigh Enax recorded 36 digs against Cameron on Oct. 7; her career-best is tied for the fourth-most digs in a single match in program history.
•     Outside hitter Hannah Kinnison set a career-high attacking percentage of .750 against University of the Southwest on Sept. 1. She recorded a career-high 23 kills against Cameron on Oct. 7.
•     Setter Alli Kirkpatrick assisted 26 times against East Central on Sept. 9, the most in her debut season; she also recorded eight digs against TAMUK on Sept. 14.
•     Outside Elsa Lamphere hit .833 in the season opener versus Southwest, a new career-high for the senior. 
•     Outside hitter Madi Parrish buried 15 kills against Texas Woman's on Sept. 27. She recorded 13 digs against TWU on Sept. 27 for her second-career double-double. 
•     Defensive specialist Krizia Perez recorded six digs against Cameron on Oct. 7. She also recorded her first ace against MSU on Sept. 30. 
•     Middle Marina Sanchez had 13 kills vs. CSU Pueblo on Sept. 8, the first time she's had ten or more kills in a match in her career. She also had eight digs against the Thunderwolves, a career-high.  
•     Middle Hannah Spencer recorded three blocks against Henderson State on September 1st; she also recorded ten kills in her LSC debut versus WNMU; she hit .625 against UTPB on Sept. 23. She also recorded a pair of aces against St. Mary's on Sept. 15. 
•     Outside hitter Evelyn Torres set a new career high with 18 kills against UAFS on Sept. 16; she tied that mark again on Sept. 27 against Texas Woman's. 
•     Outside hitter Kamryn Williams recorded four kills each against Huston-Tillotson and Southwest; she hit .667 against the Mustangs.  

RETURNING STATS

• ASU returns four starters and 12 letter winners from last year's team while adding seven newcomers, including a pair of in-conference transfers.
• Angelo State returns 79.8 percent (1052 of 1319) of its kills, 94.7 percent (107 of 113) of its service aces, 88.3 percent (1572 of 1780) of its digs, and 34.2 percent of its blocks (81.5 of 238.5) from last season's team.

BELLES ADD SEVEN
Angelo State brought in seven newcomers in 2023, including a pair of transfers from within the LSC. 

    Alli Kirkpatrick
    Freshman * 5-11 * Setter
    Bonham, Texas * Bonham HS
Recorded 1,939 kills and 1,375 digs at Bonham HS; two-time district hitter of the year
    
    Madi Parrish
    Freshman * 5-9 * Outside Hitter
    Saginaw, Texas * Boswell HS
Recorded 981 kills and 1,049 digs at Boswell HS; two-time all-district selection.

    Krizia Perez
    Freshman * 5-6 * Defensive Specialist
    Laredo, Texas * United HS
Led United HS to four district championships; first-team all-district selection

    Maya Smalls
    Grad. Student * 5-10 * Right Side
    San Antonio, Texas * St. Edward's
2022 All-LSC First Team selection at St. Edward's; recorded 361 kills for the Hilltoppers in 2022

    Hannah Spencer
    Freshman * 6-1 * Middle Blocker
    San Antonio, Texas * Cornerstone Christian
Tallied 385 kills and 210 blocks; two-time all-district selection

    Evelyn Torres
    Senior * 5-9 * Outside Hitter
    Fort Worth, Texas * UT Tyler
All-LSC Second Team in 2022 for UT Tyler

    Kamryn Williams
    Freshman * 6-0 * Outside Hitter
    Wall, Texas * Wall HS
All-time kill leader at Wall HS with 1,260; most kills in a season with 448; 2021 All-West Texas MVP

UP NEXT
The Belles are on the road next weekend for matches against Texas A&M-Kingsville and Texas A&M International.