SAN ANGELO – Day two of the 2025 Kathleen Brasfield Invitational, presented by All-American Chevrolet, proved to be less straightforward than day one of the tournament for the Angelo State volleyball team, as they dropped their opening sets in matches against Southern Nazarene and No. 23 Colorado Mesa.
Still, the Belles overcame early adversity in both matches, defeating SNU in four sets before closing the weekend out with a five-set win over the nationally-ranked Mavericks.
Southern Nazarene only committed two attack errors in set one to win 25-19 before the Belles bounced back late in set two, eking out a 25-23 win before claiming the final two sets 25-20 and 25-13.
The Belles hit .326 for the match and kept it cleaner at the service line than their opponents, making seven fewer service errors.
Madi Parrish carried the offensive load against the Crimson Storm, recording her first double-double of the season as she buried 22 kills and recorded 13 digs. She only committed three errors, hitting .452 for the match.
Gabi Ashcraft (22 assists, 11 digs) and
Ireland Ferguson (20 digs, 10 assists) also recorded their first double-doubles of the 2025 campaign.
In a match where the two ranked teams in this year's field battled, the Belles started slowly, committing ten of their 26 attack errors for the match in the opening set, with CMU winning 25-22. The two teams traded set wins, with the Belles winning set two 25-17, the Mavericks taking set three 25-23, and the Belles forcing a fifth set with a 25-13 decision in set four.
The final set of the 12-match weekend saw the Belles' defense force the Mavericks into five attack errors against only four kills to claim set five 15-6.
Four Belles recorded double-digit kills, two of whom set new career bests.
Amelia Creacy led all players with 17 kills, while
Julia Hopkins added 15 kills. Parrish recorded another double-double with 13 points and ten digs, and
Sydney Thornton buried a dozen kills on a .478 attack percentage.
Thornton has three matches with ten or more kills in her career, two of which have come against Colorado Mesa. Last season, she recorded a career-high 14 kills in Grand Junction at Colorado Mesa's tournament.
Ashcraft and
Madison Scrivner each assisted 29 times, with Ashcraft recording four aces and collecting another double-double with 12 digs.
Ferguson repeated her dig total from match one, recording 20 digs as the Belles out-dug the Mavs 77-67.
Krizia Perez, in her first-career start, recorded a career-high 11 digs on the backline.
The Belles close their weekend as one of four teams to go undefeated in the LSC, joining No. 8 West Texas A&M, Midwestern State, and Oklahoma Christian. They are on the road on Tuesday, taking on Colorado Christian at 7 p.m. Central time.
