The Lone Star Conference volleyball season is underway with all 18 teams taking part in tournament play on the opening weekend. Angelo State, Texas A&M-Kingsville, UT Permian Basin, and West Texas A&M are undefeated after one week.
LSC volleyball teams are 42-27 overall this season. The squads are currently 10-6 combined against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams, the other league in the NCAA South Central Region.
LSC schedule and results available here:
http://www.lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=wvball&
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Shelley Chapron, Texas A&M-Commerce, SR, Public Health, Houston, Texas, St. Pius X
Chapron was in the hitting zone last week to begin the season, hitting .512 in the Lions' opening tournament. She averaged 4.35 kills per set, while also adding five aces. She also was a factor on the block, recording 25 blocks over four matches. She had a career-high 25 kills against Henderson State, leading the Lions to the road victory. She also had 19 kills against Ouachita Baptist, 20 in four sets against Mississippi College and 10 kills in their sweep of St. Edward's.
DEFENSIVE
Sofia Tonga, Tarleton State, SR, Kinesiology, Laie, Hawaii, Kahuka HS
Tonga was excellent at the net for #10 Tarleton in the impromptu Texan Invitational over the weekend. Tarleton hosted one of the most elite tournaments in the country with five nationally-ranked opponents and the Texans went 3-1 on the weekend with wins over #19 Cal State-LA and #14 Rockhurst. Tonga averaged a block per set for the weekend with 15.0 blocks in 15 sets. She had a season-high five blocks against #19 Cal State-LA Friday.
SETTER
Kayla Brannon, Tarleton State, SO, Education, Moore, Okla., Southmoore HS
Brannon stepped into the starting setter role for Tarleton and dished out 78 assists for Tarleton, averaging 5.2 assists per set. Tarleton hit .205 for the weekend in four matches, including three against national-ranked opponents. She recorded her first double-double of the season with 25 assists and 15 digs against #14 Rockhurst.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
S-10 Shelley Chapron, Texas A&M-Commerce
Defensive
S-10 Sofia Tonga, Tarleton State
Setter
S-10 Kayla Brannon, Tarleton State
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Torrey Miller, West Texas A&M, had a breakout opening weekend for the Lady Buffs as the true-freshman currently leads the Lone Star Conference in kills per set (4.55) while ranking second in points per set (5.00) to earn MVP honors at the BritKare Lady Buff Classic as WT went a perfect 3-0 with wins over St. Mary's, Southern Arkansas and Tuskegee. The Brownwood product was unstoppable on the outside for the Lady Buffs as she registered 50 kills on 106 swings with a .311 attack percentage to go along with two assists, two aces, six blocks and 55.0 total points. Miller tallied a career-high 20 kills on Saturday afternoon against Tuskegee in the tournament finale on 24 swings with just two errors to hit an incredible .750 in the straight-set victory."
Melanie Casteel, Texas A&M-Kingsville, led the way on offense as the Javelinas dropped only a single set over their first four matches en route to a 4-0 start to the year. The Dallas native led TAMUK in kills in each match, totaling 13 each of her team's first two contests as the Javs defeated New Mexico Highlands and Northwestern Oklahoma State. Against the Rangers, she posted an attack percentage of .478, with only two errors on 23 swings. She followed that up with a mark of .471 in a win over Southeastern Oklahoma State and added 11 more kills as TAMUK topped Fort Lewis. She finished the week with 46 smashes and a kill rate of .344.
Sundara Chinn, Angelo State, averaged 3.08 kills a set over the weekend and had a hitting percentage of .406 to help the Belles to a 4-0 start to their season. She totaled 36 kills and two service aces.
Tatyana Tuialii-Umi, Tarleton State, was phenomenal for #10 Tarleton in the impromptu Texan Invitational over the weekend. Tarleton hosted one of the most elite tournaments in the country with five nationally-ranked opponents and the Texans went 3-1 on the weekend with wins over #19 Cal State-LA and #14 Rockhurst. Tuialii-Umi tied for the team lead with 44 kills in four matches and led the way with a .333 hitting percentage. She went for double-digit kills in three of the four matches, including 15 against #14 Rockhurst. She had 12 kills on a .417 clip against #2 Cal State-San Bernardino. Her 11 assisted blocks helped her lead the way with 51.5 points for Tarleton on the weekend.
Travana Matthews, UT Permian Basin, helped UT Permian Basin get off to a 4-0 start of the season with her strong attacking, highlighted by a pair of matches with both double digit kills and over .500 hitting percentage, breaking the school match record. The senior captain leads the LSC in hitting percentage, and was named MVP of the Dr. Aicinena Invitational tournament.
Chandler Vogel, West Texas A&M, was a force on the back row for the Lady Buffs as the Hereford product started off her junior campaign with victories over St. Mary's, Southern Arkansas and Tuskegee during the BritKare Lady Buff Classic at the WTAMU Fieldhouse ""The Box"" in Canyon. Vogel registered 63 digs during 11 sets to average an incredible 5.73 per frame to sit second in the league in digs per set following opening weekend as the Hereford High School product was named to the All-Tournament Team. The WT defense dominated all weekend as Vogel and the Lady Buffs allowed an attack percentage of just .023.
Shelley Chapron, Texas A&M-Commerce, in addition to her impact on the offensive end, was also a force for the Lions on the defensive end. She tallied 25 blocks over four games, nearly averaging 1.5 blocks per set. She helped the Lions' hold hitters to just a .133 average, including holding opponents to a .090 hitting percentage in the Lions' three wins. Chapron had six blocks in the team's sweep of St. Edward's. She then had four blocks in the team's road win against Henderson State. On Saturday, she continued to be a brick wall, with eight blocks against Ouachita Baptist and seven against Mississippi College.
Kailey Estrada, Texas A&M-Kingsville, was one of the key components in a Javelina defense that held each of its first four opponents to hitting percentages under .100. In the season's first match, the sophomore from San Antonio totaled four blocks in a four-set victory over New Mexico Highlands, then registered two more as TAMUK swept Northwestern Oklahoma State. On Saturday, she collected eight total blocks, tying her career-high as the Javs defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State. Estrada picked up two more blocks in the Javelinas' final victory of the weekend, a sweep of Fort Lewis in which they held the Skyhawks to a -.087 hitting percentage. Overall, TAMUK's first four opponents hit just .034 in 13 sets.
Bree Perry, St. Mary’s, helped lead the Rattlers to a 2-1 weekend at the Lady Buff BritKare Classic hosted by West Texas A&M. St. Mary's nearly knocked off the host in the tournament opener, losing to West Texas A&M in five sets. She dished out 117 assists with no ball handling errors.
Natalie Sarbeck, Texas A&M-Commerce, in the first four games of her career, helped lead the offense with 115 assists while helping the team hit .240 on the week. Sarbeck started with 21 assists in the team's sweep of St. Edward's. She then had three consecutive 30+ assist matches, helping the Lions to wins over Henderson State and Mississippi College.
Emily Tran, St. Edward’s, was named to All-Tournament team at Reddie-Tiger Invitational.