The #9 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M claimed their 12th Regional Championship on Saturday night over the #11 Belles of Angelo State (25-11, 25-20, 17-25, 27-25) at the Regis Fieldhouse on the campus of Regis University in Denver, Colorado. The win lifts the Lady Buffs to 33-4 overall this season while Angelo ends their season at 29-6.
The Lady Buffs move to 44-19 all-time in the NCAA Postseason as well as moving to 12-2 in the Regional Finals. The win marks the 13th straight for the Lady Buffs and it moves WT to 48-14 all-time against the Belles including 3-0 in the playoffs.
The opening set of the match saw the Lady Buffs come out firing as they registered eight of the first eleven points to force an early timeout by Angelo State with WT leading 8-3. The WT offense showed their big game experience after the break with senior Erin Dougherty connecting on a pair of slide plays followed by back-to-back blocks by Halie Harton and Laura Iwuchukwu to extend the WT lead to 14-5.
The Lady Buffs used stellar defense highlighted by a pair of blocks by Iwuchukwu to force another timeout by ASU's Chuck Waddington with the Lady Buffs leading 17-7. Another Iwuchukwu block followed by a Harton service ace extended the WT run but the Belles answered with two straight points before a Kameryn Hayes kill turned the momentum back to the Lady Buffs. A Lauren Beville kill followed by a Belle attack error forced set point with a Dougherty kill giving the Lady Buffs the 25-11 win.
The Belles started off the second set on a 4-2 run before the Lady Buffs responded with four straight points highlighted by a Sophie McBride service ace. The teams battled back and forth before a kill by ASU's Shelbi Goode forced a Lady Buff timeout with Angelo leading 14-13. A huge block by Lancaster and Iwuchukwu gave the Lady Buffs the lead once again and forced an Angelo timeout with WT leading 18-16.
A Lacy Hayes service ace following the break extended the Lady Buff lead to force another Angelo State timeout. The Belles responded after the break with a run of their own to force a WT timeout with the Lady Buffs leading 22-19. An pair of Angelo attack errors forced set point which was followed by a Kameryn Hayes kill to end the set with the Lady Buffs winning, 25-20.
The third set started off with the Belles registering five of the first seven points to force an early timeout by Jason Skoch with ASU leading 5-2. The Belles continued their roll after the timeout to extend their lead to 16-9 to force the second and final West Texas A&M timeout. The teams traded blows following the break before a Kameryn Hayes kill swung the momentum back to the WT side to force an Angelo timeout with the Belles leading 18-13. The Belles ended the set on an 8-4 run to take the win, 25-17.
The fourth set saw both teams trade blows early before a small run by the Belles forced a Lady Buff timeout with Angelo leading 9-6. Both teams continued to battle following the break before a pair of Iuwchukwu kills and a Belle attack error forced an Angelo timeout with ASU leading 13-12.
The two rivals continued to trade blows with the Belles carrying a two point lead throughout most the set before an Iwuchukwu kill cut the Angelo lead to 21-20 before the Belles registered two straight points to force a WT timeout with Angelo leading 23-20. Lancaster registered a kill following the break and a block by Lancaster and Dougherty forced an ASU timeout with the Belles leading 23-22. Another block by Dougherty and Lancaster tied the match followed by an Angelo kill and a kill by Lancaster to make the score 24-24. The teams traded points followed by a Kameryn Hayes kill to force match point followed by a Belle attack error to end the match at 27-25.
The Lady Buffs were led offensively by Kameryn Hayes with 12 kills followed by Laura Iwuchukwu with 11 and Erin Dougherty with 10, senior setter Lacy Hayes dished out 45 assists while Lauren Beville registered a match high 18 digs on the night. WT hit .261 as a team with 16 attack errors and 18 total blocks.
The Rambelles were led by Maddie Huth with a match high 17 kills followed by Shelbi Goode with 15. Alex Woosley dished out a match high 47 assists while Shelby Wilt registered 11 digs on the night. The Belles hit .165 as a team with 30 attack errors and 10 total blocks.
The Lady Buffs now advance to next weekend's Elite Eight hosted by West Florida in Pensacola, Florida. More information on the tournament participants and schedule will be released soon, check back with www.gobuffsgo.com for details.
All-Tournament Team
Lacy Hayes - West Texas A&M
Shelbi Goode - Angelo State
Laura Iwuchukwu - West Texas A&M
Lauren Beville - West Texas A&M
Katie Klein - Regis
Jackie Stabell - Colorado Mines
Lauren Quijano - Metro State
Alex Woolsey - Angelo State
Maddie Huth - Angelo State
Danielle Johnson-Hazelwood - Colorado Mines
Caitie Breaux - Regis
Erin Dougherty - West Texas A&M