LSC Volleyball Championship: WT sweeps ENMU
The #6 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M made quick work of the rival Zias of Eastern New Mexico (25-15, 25-17, 25-7) as WT disposed of ENMU in just over an hour during Thursday night's Quarterfinal Round of the Lone Star Conference Championships held at the WTAMU Fieldhouse "The Box" in Canyon. The Lady Buffs move to 29-3 overall while the Zias end their season at 8-20.
The win lifts the Lady Buffs to 61-11 all-time against Eastern New Mexico with WT taking the past 16 meetings dating back to the 2004 season. WT stretches their win streak to 23 straight matches including taking the last 25 matches at the WTAMU Fieldhouse "The Box" dating back to last season.
The opening set saw the two teams trade early blows as WT held the slim 9-8 lead before a run that saw a block by Lexi Davis and Lauren Bevan force a Zias timeout with the Lady Buffs leading 12-7, WT continued to stretch their lead following the break as they forced another ENMU timeout with WT leading 20-14. WT closed out the set on a 5-1 run ended by a Lee Golden kill off of the block for the 25-15 win.
The Zias opened up the second set on a 7-4 run before the Lady Buffs answered with a pair of huge Davis kills to force an ENMU timeout with WT leading 10-8, Eastern capitalized on attack errors by the Lady Buffs to tie the match at 13-13 before Davis connected on a kill in the middle followed by a service ace to force a Zias timeout with WT leading 16-13. WT continued on their role after the break as they ended the set on a 9-4 run ended by a Laura Iwuchukwu kill for the 25-17 win.
WT carried over their run into the third set as they took the opening five points of the frame to force an early ENMU timeout following a Halie Harton service ace, the Lady Buffs continued their run as they used a Golden setter dump to force ENMU to take their final timeout with WT leading 8-0. The Lady Buffs stretched their lead to 10-0 before a WT attack error finally allowed the crowd of over 1,000 fans to take their seats, WT finished the set on a 15-7 run to register the sweep over Eastern New Mexico, 25-7.
The Lady Buffs were led offensively by Laura Iwuchukwu and Lexi Davis with 11 kills each followed by Lee Golden with nine and Halie Harton with eight, Kameryn Hayed dished out a match high 33 assists on the night while Lauren Britten tallied 10 digs.
WT hit .344 as a team with 15 attack errors and 9.0 total blocks while the Zias struggled offensively as they hit -.044 as a team with 24 attack errors and just 4.0 blocks on the night.
The Zias were led by Lauren Frye with 10 kills followed by Courtney Lawson with five and Agatha Gibbons with four, Kennedi Catano dished out a team high 14 assists while teammates Lawson and Hayley Couch had six digs each.
The Lady Buffs advance to tomorrow night's LSC Semifinals to take on the Lions of Texas A&M-Commerce with first serve set for 7:30 p.m. at the WTAMU Fieldhouse "The Box" in Canyon. The Lions had an impressive four set victory over Tarleton State earlier in the night to advance to the semifinals. Angelo State and Texas Woman's will square-off in the other half of the bracket starting at 5 p.m.
WT vs ENMU LSC Volleyball Championship Gallery
LSC Volleyball Championship: A&M-C prevails over TSU
Texas A&M-Commerce won a back-and-forth contest 3-1 over Tarleton State in the quarterfinals of the Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championship.
The teams played 202 points in the match with the Lions prevailing 25-22, 25-27, 30-28, and 25-20.
A&M-C gained the early advantage in the first set by outhitting TSU .310 to .167. TSU hit a match-best .394 in set two to tie the contest.
The Lions offense stayed hot to take the next two sets and advance the semifinals.
A&M-C had four players record double-digit kills including 16 apiece for Amy Davault and Breanne Snyder. Jordan Neal was one dig short of a double-double with 60 assists and nine digs.
Jazmine Green had a match-best 19 kills while hitting .350 for TSU.
A&M-C will face the West Texas A&M-Eastern New Mexico winner Friday at 7:30 p.m.
A&M-C vs TSU LSC Volleyball Championship Gallery
LSC Volleyball Championship: TWU sweeps TAMUK
Senior middle blocker Marcela Alves posted a game-high 13 kills to lead the Pioneers to a sweep against Texas A&M-Kingsville in the 2013 LSC Championship quarterfinals. TWU won, 25-23, 25-12, and 25-19, and will advance to semifinals to face Angelo State for the second straight season.
The Pioneers played the game without their head coach Shelly Barberee on the sidelines. Barberee was not on the bench because of a family emergency.
The Pioneers overcame the emotion and handed Barberee her 192nd win at TWU. She is now the all-time winningest coach passing Sandy Troudt (191).
In the opening set both teams traded the first 12 points. TWU went on a 6-2 run to build a four-point lead, 12-8. The Pioneers maintained the lead until TAMUK used a 7-3 run to tie the score at 22-22. TWU answered by scoring three of the final four points to capture the set.
In the second the Pioneers jumped out to a 6-0 lead and cruised to a 13-point win. TWU closed out the set on an 8-1 run while holding the Javelinas to -.200 hitting percentage.
The Pioneers again built an early lead, 5-1, in the third set but Texas A&M-Kingsville rallied to cut the deficit to one, 8-7. TWU used another 10-2 run to extend the lead to double digits before holding on for a six-point win.
Alves finished the game with a .611 hitting percentage with just two hitting errors. Senior Chloe' Tate added eight kills while senior Josie Santos chipped in seven kills and 13 digs. Junior Morgan Wilson led the game with 20 digs and junior Kayla Rivero assisted on 22 kills.
The Pioneers play the Rambelles Friday at 5 p.m.
TWU vs TAMUK LSC Volleyball Championship Gallery
LSC Volleyball Championship: ASU tops MSU 3-1
Angelo State advanced to the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championship with a 3-1 win over Midwestern State Thursday.
MSU won the first set 25-22 on the strength of 16 kills and a .238 hitting percentage before ASU turned the tables. The Rambelles took the next three sets 25-16, 25-18 and 25-7 to secure a spot in Friday’s semifinals.
Maddie Huth, who was named co-LSC Offensive Player of the Year, paced ASU with 15 kills and eight blocks. Arielle Bond and Cerbi Ritchey also recorded double-digit kills with 14 and 10, respectively. Maggi Jo Keffury recorded a double-double with 49 assists and 10 digs, and Shelby Wilt led the defense with 15 digs.
The Rambelles play Texas Woman’s Friday at 5 p.m.
MSU closes the campaign with a 17-13 mark which represents the most wins since the 2008 squad posted a 25-9 record.
LSC Volleyball Championship (11/21/13) Gallery