Five teams are off to unbeaten starts as Angelo State, Midwestern State, St. Mary’s, Texas A&M-Kingsville, and UT Tyler began the Spring 2021 season with two wins.
The Spring 2021 volleyball slate will feature a “bubble” format for 16 teams with four divisions consisting of four teams each on Tuesday-Wednesday playing dates. Each team has 12 divisional games over six weeks against the same opponent at the same site. Regular season competition will begin on Jan. 26 and will conclude on March 10 with the week of March 15-20 reserved for make-up contests.
The LSC Volleyball Championship will include 12 teams with the top three in each division. The opening round is set for March 23, followed by the quarterfinals on March 24, semifinals on March 30 and championship match on March 31.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Evelyn Torres, UT Tyler, FR, Criminal Justice, Outside Hitter, Fort Worth, Texas, Aledo HS
Torres produced an outstanding .375 hitting percentage and a team-high 29 kills to lead UT Tyler to a pair of victories over DBU. She recorded 15 kills on Tuesday, followed by 14 in Wednesday’s win. Torres also contributed 33 service receptions without an error.
DEFENSIVE
Mikayla Ware, UT Tyler, JR, Criminal Justice, Outside Hitter, Mico, Texas, Tom C. Clark HS
Ware produced a team-high 48 serve receptions without an error, as UT Tyler surrendered just 2 service aces across 7 sets in a pair of victories over DBU. She also registered 24 digs (3.43 per set) with 14 in Tuesday’s match with 17 kills, and 10 on Wednesday.
SETTER
Taylor Stoops, UT Tyler, JR, Marketing, Setter, Waxahachie, Texas, Waxahachie HS
Stoops helped lead a UT Tyler offense which converted at a .281 attack percentage over two matches against DBU, producing a team-high 50 assists for the week. She posted 28 helpers on Tuesday, with 22 in Wednesday’s sweep. Stoops added 1 service ace and 3 digs.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
J-29 Evelyn Torres, UT Tyler
Defensive
J-29 Mikayla Ware, UT Tyler
Setter
J-29 Taylor Stoops, UT Tyler
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Torrey Miller, West Texas A&M, started off her sophomore season strong as she registered 31 kills on 84 swings with 11 attack errors to hit .238 on the week while averaging an LSC-leading 4.43 kills per set to go along with a service aces, five blocks and 34.5 total points. The 2019 LSC Freshman of the Year registered 18 kills and 12 digs for a double-double in Tuesday's season opener at Lubbock Christian followed by an efficient performance on Wednesday in Canyon, finishing the match with 13 kills on 34 swings with just four attack errors to hit .265 on the night to go along with seven digs and four blocks.
Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State, helped the Belles to a two match sweep of UTPB. She registered 24 kills overall against UTPB, scoring 29 points, with an average of 4.83 points per set. Gilbreath averaged four kills a set, hitting a .303 clip, grabbing 24 digs, averaging four digs a set as well. She also added four service aces throughout the six sets, averaging .67 service aces per set.
Alissa Tolbert, St. Mary’s, tied her career-high with 20 kills in the season-opening victory over Texas A&M International. She had double-doubles in both matches with 20 kills and 14 digs in the 5-set win and 10 kills and a match-high 12 digs in the 3-set win on Wed. This is the first time since 2009 the Rattlers have started 2-0 in conference play. On Wed. in the second set, Tolbert stepped back to the service line with the score knotted at 22-22 and she immediately served an ace, followed by two tough serves that allowed the Rattlers to win 25-22. In the third set, she served six-straight, including an ace to push the lead from 15-13 to 21-14 and the Rattlers went on to win 25-18.
Chandler Vogel, West Texas A&M, the Reigning Lone Star Conference Libero of the Year started her senior season strong this week as she registered 32 total digs for an average of 4.457per set to go along with two service aces and eight assists as the Lady Buffs split a home/home series with Lubbock Christian. The Hereford, Texas product is making her way up the program's all-time digs list as she now sits just three shy of passing former All-American Shannon Stroud for fifth on the list. Vogel led the way in the back row in both of WT matches this week, registering 17 digs on Tuesday in Lubbock followed by a 15 digs performance on Wednesday at The Box as the Lady Buff defense allowed an opponent attack percentage of just .101.
Chloe Patton , Angelo State, assisted defensively in the Belles two match sweep of the Falcons, registering 20 total digs overall, averaging 3.33 digs a set and holding the Falcons to a .117 hitting percentage against Angelo State. She grabbed two service aces and seven assists as well, averaging .33 aces per set and 1.17 assists per set. Patton scored two points for the Belles as well, averaging .33 points a set.
Lindsey Ledyard, Angelo State, led the Belles against the Falcons in a pair of road wins with 54 total assists in six sets against UTPB, averaging nine assists a set. She registered 16 digs and 6.5 points for the Belles, averaging 2.67 digs and 1.08 points a set. Ledyard also nabbed a service ace as well. Angelo State collectively hit a .196 hitting percentage with several players hitting over a .300 hitting percentage.
Sadie Snay, West Texas A&M, started off the season strong for the Lady Buffs as the junior dished out 63 assists for an average of 9.00 per frame as WT registered a team attack percentage of .176 during a home/home series with Lubbock Christian to open the season. The Kingman, Arizona product registered eight kills on 22 swings with just five attack errors to hit .136 on the week to go along with 63 assists, one service ace, 17 digs and four blocks for a total of 11.0 points. Snay registered a double-double on Tuesday night in Lubbock with 33 assists and 13 digs followed by a 30 assist performance on Wednesday in Canyon as the Lady Buffs registered a .233 attack percentage in the sweep.