Three teams – Angelo State, UT Tyler, and West Texas A&M - lead the Lone Star Conference standings with one league loss each with three weeks of regular season games remaining.
The top 12 teams will qualify for the postseason tournament with the opening round on campus Tuesday, Nov. 16, and the final eight teams at the No. 1 seed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, November 18-19-20. The LSC champion will be determined by regular season games, while the postseason tournament winner is designated as LSC tournament champion and earns the conference’s automatic qualification.
LSC volleyball teams are 168-175 overall this season. The squads are currently 14-17 combined against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams, the other league in the NCAA Division II South Central Region.
LSC schedule and results available here:
http://www.lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=wvball&
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State, SR, Public Health, OH, Fort Worth, Texas, Boswell HS
Gilbreath turned in a pair of big performances for the Belles this past week, averaging a triple-double for the second week in a row. Against Texas A&M-Commerce, she recorded her fourth-career triple-double with 12 kills, 27 assists and 12 digs in the five-set loss. Against No. 15 UT Tyler, she notched 14 kills, 33 assists and nine digs, hitting .464 for the match and only committing a single attack error in four sets to give the Patriots their first loss of the season.
DEFENSIVE
Lyric Hebert, Texas A&M-Commerce, JR, Management, Libero, Arvada, Colo., Ralston Valley HS
Hebert played as the libero in Friday night’s win for the Lions on the road at No. 4 Angelo State. Hebert had 26 digs in the five-set match and held the Rambelles to a hitting percentage of .083 in their first home loss since 2018. Hebert a total of 49 digs on an average of 4.9 digs per set this past weekend. She is seventh in the LSC with an average of 4.66 digs per set. Hebert had three service aces this past weekend, she is 10th in the LSC with an average of 0.33 aces per set.
SETTER
Chloe Alderson, UAFS, FR, Mathematics, Setter, North Richland Hills, Texas, Richland HS
Alderson set a new season-high with 47 assists in the win over St. Edward's and posted a pair of double-doubles on the weekend. She added 12 digs against SEU and had 37 assists and 10 digs in the win over St. Mary's. She helped UAFS hit .369 against the Ratters, its second highest mark of the season. For the week, Alderson averaged 12.00 assists per set as the Lions hit .301 as a team in the victories over StMU and SEU.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
S-7 Christina Escamilla, UT Tyler
S-14 Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State
S-21 Jackie Alanis, Texas A&M-Kingsville
S-28 Mikayla Ware, UT Tyler
O-5 Maddy Rashford, Texas A&M-Commerce
O-12 Torrey Miller, West Texas A&M
O-19 Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State (2)
O-26 Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State (3)
Defensive
S-7 Savannah Guzman, UT Tyler
S-14 Baleigh Allen, Angelo State
S-21 Hannah Froeschl, Lubbock Christian
S-28 Nicole Murff, Texas A&M-Kingsville
O-5 Baleigh Allen, Angelo State (2)
O-12 Chloe Patton, Angelo State
O-19 Alissa Tolbert, St. Mary’s
O-26 Lyric Hebert, Texas A&M-Commerce
Setter
S-7 Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State
S-14 Celeste Vela, Texas A&M-Commerce
S-21 Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State (2)
S-28 Sadie Snay, West Texas A&M
O-5 Callie Craus, UT Tyler
O-12 Jaedyn Woolley, Angelo State
O-19 Celeste Vela, Texas A&M-Commerce (2)
O-26 Chloe Alderson, UAFS
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Halee Van Poppel, DBU, led the Lady Patriots to a pair of wins over Southern Nazarene and Texas Woman's after registering a team-high 38 kills and a .288 hitting percentage. Following a 13-kill performance in a sweep of Southern Nazarene on Tuesday, Van Poppel tied her season-high with 25 kills in a key conference win at TWU on Saturday. Against TWU, she also posted a season-best .351 hitting percentage and 26.5 points to propel DBU to a 7-4 record in the LSC.
Aquincia Strambler, UT Permian Basin, continues to be one of the top offensive players with 29 kills last week. On Friday she had 12 kills on a .333 hitting percentage as the Falcons swept Texas A&M International. The Falcons picked up their fourth straight sweep on Saturday behind a monster game from Strambler. She finished with 17 kills, the second most in a three-set match in the LSC this season, while hitting .438. She is now fourth in the LSC in kills with 236 on the year while hitting .280.
Mikayla Ware, UT Tyler, chipped in 33.5 points over a tough road stretch for UT Tyler in a win over Lubbock Christian on Friday night and a 3-1 loss at #4 Angelo State on Saturday afternoon. Ware led the team in both matches in the kills category with 17 against Lubbock Christian and 16 against Angelo State. The senior averaged 4.13 kills per set and also notched a double-double in Friday night's win with 17 digs to go along with 17 kills. She totaled 26 digs on the weekend to go along with her 33 kills between the two matches. UT Tyler is 15-1 on the year and 11-1 in Lone Star Conference play.
Maddy Rashford, Texas A&M-Commerce, averaged 3.2 kills per set for a total of 32 kills this week. She had 13 kills on Friday night in A&M-Commerce’s five-set win at No. 4 Angelo State. She had 19 against Lubbock Christian on the road on Saturday. Rashford is eighth in the LSC with an average of 3.3 kills per set.
Jasmine Gannon, Eastern New Mexico, had a great weekend helping the Greyhounds go 2-0 on the weekend. On Saturday, Gannon tied a program record six services aces in the Hounds 3-1 win over Midwestern State University. The six service aces are tied second for a single game-high for any LSC player this season. Gannon added 13 kills, four block assists, and posting a hitting percentage of .345 on Saturday, for 21 points. On Friday, against Cameron University, Gannon provided a double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs, providing 16 points in a 3-2 win against Cameron.
Ayanna Jackson, Texas A&M-Kingsville, put together one of the best performances of the season for the Javelinas in a Friday victory over Western New Mexico. Her day included 13 kills on just 20 attacks without an error for a .650 attack percentage, a new career-best for freshman from San Antonio. She also collected six total blocks, tied for a match-high, as the Javelinas disposed of the Mustangs in three sets.
Chyra Thompson, UAFS, hit .500 for the week in leading the Lady Lions to a pair of wins over St. Mary's and St. Edward's. She totaled nine kills on a .500 attack percentage in the sweep over the Rattlers as UAFS hit .369 for the match. In the win over the Hilltoppers, Thompson once again hit .500 with 10 kills and six blocks.
Hannah Rouse, Oklahoma Christian, the second-year freshman from Newcastle recorded a pair of strong performances. She had nine kills to go with career highs in aces (five) and digs (20) in a 3-1 win over St. Edward's on Friday, then posted a double-double with 13 kills and 17 digs in a 3-1 loss to St. Mary's on Saturday. The 13 kills matched the second-highest total of her collegiate career. She also had six kills and six digs in a nonconference loss at Southwestern Oklahoma State on Tuesday.
Chandler Vogel, West Texas A&M, led the Lady Buffs back row to a pair of conference victories as the senior libero became the programs new all-time digs leader. In the third set she collected her 15th dig against Cameron to break the former digs record at 2,424. The Hereford product finished week eight play with 37 total digs to now total 2,433 digs and averages 4.95 a set this season which ranks fourth.
Gabi Sandoval, St. Mary’s, in the four-set win at Oklahoma Christian, recorded a career-high 27 digs, bettering her previous total of 25 against Lubbock Christian in the season opener. For the week, Sandoval averaged 6.00 digs per set, well above her average of 4.48 entering the week. Sandoval also tallied four assists in the victory against the Eagles and had five on the weekend (0.71 per set). She recorded the 450th dig of her career and now has 466.
Savannah Guzman, UT Tyler, put together the best match of her UT Tyler career on Friday night with a career-high 33 digs in a 3-1 road win for the Patriots over Lubbock Christian. Guzman's career night helped limit Lubbock Christian to a .084 team hitting percentage in the four sets. She followed up that effort on Saturday afternoon with 14 digs in the 3-1 loss against #4 Angelo State to average 5.75 digs per set in her eight sets played over the weekend. Guzman ranks second in the Lone Star Conference with an average of 4.98 digs per set.
Leah Palensky, DBU, led the Lady Patriots to a pair of wins last week over Southern Nazarene and Texas Woman's after a defensive effort that saw her record 40 digs and an average of 5.7 digs per set. In Saturday's conference win at TWU, Palenskey led a Lady Patriot defense that held the Pioneers to a .192 hitting percentage, helping DBU to improve to a 7-4 record in the LSC.
Daylee Doggett, UT Permian Basin, and the Falcon defense was outstanding last week, holding Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville to a 0.060 hitting percentage in a pair of sweeps. On Friday the Falcons recorded their lowest opponent's hitting percentage of the season, holding the Dustdevils to a 0.054 percentage along with 65 digs, their most in a three-set match this season. On Saturday they held the Javelinas to a 0.068 hitting percentage and only allowed 25 kills. Over their last three matches, the Falcon defense hasn't allowed an opponent to hit over .100.
Nicole Murff, Texas A&M-Kingsville, put together another solid week, tallying 29 digs and averaging 4.83 digs per set in two Javelina matches. She collected nine scoops on Friday to help the Javs to a win over Western New Mexico, then she pushed her dig total up to 20 on Saturday against UT Permian Basin, which marked the fourth time in 2021 Murff has accumulated 20 or more digs in a three-set match. Murff's rate of 5.59 digs per set continues to be the best in the LSC and has her in the top 20 nationally.
Chloe Patton, Angelo State, continued her hot run of form this past week for the Belles. Against Texas A&M-Commerce, she recorded a season-high 26 digs. Against #15 UT-Tyler, she recorded 13 digs as she helped hold the Patriots to under a .200 hitting percentage for the third time this season, also handing them their first loss of the season.
Adriana Puni, Eastern New Mexico, had a career day in ENMU's 3-1 over Midwestern State on Saturday. Puni found a career-high 11 total blocks (two solos, nine assists) while adding eight kills and eight digs, for 14.5 points. The 11 total blocks tied a program record for most blocks in a match, while also tying the most total blocks by an LSC player in this season. The 11 total blocks were the most blocks in a 4-set match by any LSC player this season. Puni also contributed in the Hounds 3-2 win over Cameron, with four kills and four total blocks.
Analise Lucio, UT Permian Basin, and the Falcons are rolling, not having dropped a set in four matches. On Friday, the senior picked up her 11th double-double of the year with 32 assists and 15 digs against Texas A&M International as the Falcons had their best defensive showing of the season. She followed that with a 36-assist, seven-dig performance as the Falcons cruised past Texas A&M-Kingsville. In that game she moved into sole possession of second place in program history in assists.
Celeste Vela, Texas A&M-Commerce, totaled 104 assists in two matches this past week, continuing to lead the LSC with 699 assists and an average of 10.43 assists per set. She had 41 assists in Friday night’s win at No. 4 Angelo State and 63 in five sets at Lubbock Christian on Saturday, which is the most in a single match by any LSC setter this year.
Emily Witt, Texas A&M-Kingsville, piled up 46 assists over a pair of matches for the Javelinas last week. That total included 30 helpers to go with seven digs on Friday, as the Javs swept Western New Mexico. Witt's setting helped the Javelinas put together a .310 hitting percentage and commit only eight errors on the night. Witt added 15 more assists and nine digs on Saturday.
Cali Nims, St. Mary’s, a true freshman, recorded a season-high four service aces in the Rattlers' win at Oklahoma Christian. She served the first eight points of the match before the Eagles broke onto the scoreboard. She also averaged 6.71 assists per set in the two matches, well above her 5.48 per set average before the road trip. Nims averaged 1.86 digs per set, good for third on the team during the road swing.
Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State, was a vital piece for the Belles this past week, averaging a triple-double for the second week running. Against Texas A&M-Commerce, she assisted 27 times. Against No. 15 UT Tyler, she assisted 33 times as the Belles hit .328 as a team, the best mark against the Patriots this season and the best mark in a four-set match in the LSC this season, giving the Patriots their first loss of the season in the process.
Callie Craus, UT Tyler, eclipsed the 20-assist mark in both matches and added a double-double as UT Tyler went 1-1 with a road win at Lubbock Christian and a road loss at #4 Angelo State. Craus totaled 49 assists between the two matches, contributing 21 assists in Friday's win over Lubbock Christian and 28 in the Saturday afternoon loss to Angelo State. The senior added 11 digs to her 28 assists on Saturday to notch the double-double and helped manufacture a Patriot offense that averaged 12.50 kills per set.
Spencer Plato, Oklahoma Christian, after missing more than a month due to injury, shined in her return to the lineup as Oklahoma Christian split a pair of matches against St. Edward’s and St. Mary’s. She had 22 assists, nine digs and an ace in her first match back, a 3-1 win over St. Edward’s, then recorded a double-double with 27 assists and 12 digs the next day in a 3-1 loss to St. Mary’s.
Rae Sapiga, Eastern New Mexico, posted back-to-back games with 23 assists during the Greyhound 2-0 weekend. Against Cameron on Friday evening, she dished out 23 assists along with 14 digs, and added five service aces in a 3-2 comeback victory. The next day, Sapiga supplied another 23 assists while finding nine digs in ENMU’s 3-1 win over Midwestern State.