SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State volleyball team travels north to the Sooner State to take on Oklahoma Christian and Cameron this weekend as the Belles look to build off a 2-0 start in LSC play. This marks the first time since the 2022 season that the Belles have traveled to Oklahoma. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Belles defeated St. Mary's in straight sets and St. Edward's in four sets to start LSC play at 2-0, one of five teams in the conference to achieve this feat. The Belles hit .223 as a team as they held the Rattlers and Hilltoppers to a combined .052 attack percentage. Madi Parrish led the Belles with 25 kills, and Julia Hopkins hit a team-best .304. Defensively, Raelee Allen led the team with nine blocks as the Belles blocked nearly three attacks per set. 

FERGUSON EARNS LSC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Belles senior libero Ireland Ferguson was named the conference's defensive player of the week for helping the Belles start 2-0 in conference play. Ferguson dug 33 balls across two matches, averaging 4.71 per set. Ferguson, who earns the first individual on-court accolade of her career, recorded her second-career double-double against St. Mary's, assisting 12 times to go along with 12 digs. 

Parrish named AVCA NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Madi Parrish was named the AVCA Division II National Player of the Week for her performance during the opening weekend's Kathleen Brasfield Invitational. Parrish recorded 54 kills and hit .412 for the weekend, recording two double-doubles on Saturday as well. Parrish earns the award for the second time in her career, becoming the second player in conference history to earn the award multiple times. Parrish was also named the LSC Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career. 

BELLES NAMED LSC PRESEASON FAVES
The Belles were listed on top of the Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll, receiving 933 total votes and 30 of 54 first-place votes. They lead West Texas A&M, UT Tyler, DBU, and Texas Woman's in the conference's preseason poll; St. Mary's, Oklahoma Christian, Lubbock Christian, UT Permian Basin, and Texas A&M-Kingsville round out the poll's top ten. This is the Belles' first time being picked atop the LSC Preseason Poll since the 2021 season, when they claimed the LSC Regular Season Championship. 

PARRISH NAMED LSC PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Junior outside hitter Madi Parrish was named the LSC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, as announced in the conference's preseason polls and awards on August 25th. Parrish, an AVCA Second Team All-American in 2024, is coming off a season in which she recorded 498 kills, the fifth-most in a single season in program history. Parrish is the first Belle since Kailyn Gilbreath in 2021 to be named the conference's preseason offensive player of the year. Gilbreath, like Parrish, is a product of Boswell HS, and in 2021, Gilbreath led the Belles to the LSC title en route to being named the LSC Player of the Year.

BELLES IN THE RANKINGS
The Belles are ranked 22nd in the AVCA Division II Top 25 poll. The Belles started the season ranked second and finished the 2024 season ranked fourth, their highest ranking to finish the season. The Belles have been ranked in 15-straight polls, dating back to September 17th, 2024. The second-place ranking is the highest for the Belles since they started the 2021 season ranked first in the country. Nine of the Belles' 28 matches this season will take place against teams ranked in the preseason top-25.

RETURNING STATS
The Belles return 66.4 percent of their kills from last season (1,201 of 1,810 kills), 51.2 percent of their blocks (130 of 254 blocks), and 35.2 percent of their digs (762 of 2,162 digs). The Belles return 13 letterwinners from last season's squad, including two All-Americans in Madi Parrish and Demi Carter. Sydney Thornton, an All-LSC and LSC All-Freshman selection, also returns for the Belles. 

A YEAR FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
The 2024 campaign turned out to be the single-best season in Angelo State Volleyball's 50-season history. The Belles went 32-3 overall and 15-1 in LSC play, winning the LSC Tournament, the NCAA South Central Regional, and advancing to the National Semifinals for the first time in program history. Five Belles - Adeline Ortman, Madi Parrish, Evelyn Torres, Caleigh Enax, and Demi Carter - earned AVCA All-American honors, and Chuck Waddington was named the AVCA South Central Region Coach of the Year. The season also featured a 20-match win streak that extended from October 5th to December 13th, when the Belles' season ended in the national semifinals. 

HOME COURT DOMINANCE
Under head coach Chuck Waddington, the Belles are 202-34 inside the Junell Center-Stephens Arena, boasting an impressive .856 winning percentage. The Belles are a combined 27-2 on their home court over the past two seasons, with both losses coming against ranked opponents who would go on to win their region later that season: No. 5 West Texas A&M in 2023 (South Central) and No. 23 Central Oklahoma in 2024 (Central). 

ATTENDANCE
On opening weekend, the Belles led all Division II programs in attendance, with 5,152 fans watching the Belles go 4-0 at the 2025 Kathleen Brasfield Invitational. The Belles had 3,123 fans in attendance in their season-opening sweep of Arkansas-Monticello. The Belles' match against No. 23 Colorado Mesa saw 851 in the stands, the second-highest attendance at a Division II match on opening weekend. At the 2024 KBI, the Belles set a new program and LSC attendance record when 3,315 fans packed the Junell Center-Stephens Arena to watch the Belles' season-opening sweep of New Mexico Highlands. The Belles are consistently one of the biggest draws in Division II. In Chuck Waddington's time leading the Belles Volleyball program, the Belles have drawn 37 crowds of over a thousand fans, going 32-5 in matches with over a thousand fans inside the Junell Center - Stephens Arena. During last season's South Central Regional, 4,237 fans watched the Belles win their three matches to claim the South Central Regional Championship and clinch their spot in the Elite Eight. The Belles bested their previous attendance record from the 2023 season, where 2,936 fans filled the seats of the Junell Center - Stephens Arena to watch the Belles sweep Southwest at the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Waddington and the Belles lost six players from last season's regional champions - three of whom were All-Americans in 2024. The Belles have restocked their talent, bringing in three transfers - Gabi Ashcraft (Palm Beach Atlantic), Madison Scrivner (North Texas), and Indiah Maroney (Liberty) - alongside four true freshmen: Chanelle Cancel, Mary Johnson, Annie Witt, and Journi Jones.