SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State volleyball team plays its final matches of the regular season this weekend when it hosts Texas A&M-Kingsville and Texas A&M International. 

WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday's match against Texas A&M-Kingsville is the Belles' annual Military Appreciation Night, while Saturday's match against the Dustdevils sees the Belles honor their three seniors—Ireland Ferguson, Cate Boldrick, and Ella Unterweger—before their final home regular-season match. 

PARRISH NAMED LSC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior outside hitter Madi Parrish was named the LSC Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday. She hit .448 and averaged 5.50 kills per set, recording a pair of double-doubles. She had 16 kills and 12 digs against Midwestern State and 17 kills and 15 digs against Lubbock Christian. 

SCOUTING TAMUK
Texas A&M-Kingsville is 18-7 on the season and 10-5 in LSC play; they need a win from their final two matches or a loss by Midwestern State to qualify for the LSC tournament. The Javelinas are 4-3 on the road this season. Rylan Pollard paces the Javelinas, as the senior leads Division II with nine triple-doubles this season. The reigning LSC Setter of the Week averages 3.02 kills per set on a .254 attack percentage while assisting 4.89 times per set. Natalee Rush has a .454 attack percentage, the third-best mark in Division II. Opponents hit .162 against the Javelinas. Libero Monique Gonzalez leads the team with 3.40 digs per set, and Rush leads the Javelinas with 53 blocks at the net. 

SCOUTING TAMIU
Texas A&M International is 5-19 on the season and 3-12 in LSC play. They are 1-8 on the road this season, with their only win coming in straight sets against Sul Ross on October 4th. They hit .133 as a squad, led by Danea King's .303 attack percentage. Mia Molina leads the team with 2.95 kills per set. Opponents hit .235 against the Dustdevils. Samantha Estrada records 3.88 digs per set, and Caitlyn Cornell leads TAMIU with 0.66 blocks per set. 

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 RECORDS 1K CAREER KILLS
Junior outside hitter Madi Parrish became the 16th player in program history to record 1,000 career kills on Tuesday night against Western New Mexico. Parrish is the first Belle to reach the milestone since Brianna Sotello did so in the 2016 season. Parrish is on 1,071 career kills, 26 away from 11th-place Chelsea Gibson. 

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 211-34 inside the Junell Center-Stephens Arena, boasting an impressive .856 winning percentage. The Belles are a combined 36-2 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.