DENVER – The Angelo State volleyball team defeated Lubbock Christian in their second-straight match to advance in the South Central regional, defeating the Chaps in four sets on Thursday afternoon inside the Auraria Event Center on the campus of MSU Denver.

The Belles won sets one and two 25-18 and 25-20 before LCU battled back to win set three 25-22.

A tightly-contested set four saw the Belles come back multiple times, including a 5-0 run and a 3-0 run to end the match, with the match being capped off by a pair of kills by Demi Carter to win the set 27-25.

Belles sophomore setter Gabi Ashcraft recorded her 1,000^th career assist in the win; she assisted 26 times as the Belles hit .169 for the match.

The Belles' defense stifled the Chaps' potent offense, recording 16 blocks in the match, tying the program record for blocks in a four-set match; it's the most in a four-set match since they recorded 16 blocks in a win over Lubbock Christian on September 10^th, 2022.

The Belles held LCU to an .085 attack percentage.

Madi Parrish led the Belles' offense with 18 kills; she also recorded ten digs, notching her 18^th double-double of the season.

Carter had 15 kills and hit .382 for the match; she also recorded seven blocks.

Julia Hopkins added nine blocks and seven digs, and Raelee Allen tallied six kills and seven blocks.

Middles Cate Boldrick and Hannah Spencer had five kills each; Boldrick did not commit an error, hitting .455, while Spencer led the Belles with eight blocks.

In the postseason, Spencer has proven to be a force at the net, recording 1.69 blocks per set.

Ireland Ferguson dug 22 times, her seventh match this season with 20 or more digs; Madison Scrivner assisted 23 times off the bench.

The Belles are 25-7 on the season, the seventh time the Belles have won 25 matches in a single season under Chuck Waddington. The Belles will face seventh-seed Colorado School of Mines in the next round tomorrow evening at 5 p.m. central time.