Angelo State captured its 12th Lone Star Conference title with a 16-1 league record to earn the top seed in the postseason tournament.
The single-elimination championship begins Tuesday, Nov. 16 with the opening round on campus at the 5-8 seeds. The final eight teams will meet in San Angelo, Texas, on November 18-19-20 for the quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship match.
The top four seeds - ASU, UT Tyler, Lubbock Christian, and West Texas A&M – all receive byes, while Texas A&M-Commerce, DBU, UAFS, and UT Permian Basin will host opening round games on Nov. 16. St. Mary's, St. Edward's, Eastern New Mexico, and Oklahoma Christian round out the 12-team bracket.
LSC volleyball teams are 220-229 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
Aquincia Strambler, UT Permian Basin, SR, Education, Outside Hitter, Midland, Texas, Lee HS
Strambler had a huge week as the Falcons upset No. 13 UT Tyler. On Saturday, she had a season high 21 kills and a .311 hitting percentage against the third best defense in the LSC. She added 10 digs and a match-best 22 points. The Falcons handed UT Tyler just their second loss of the season and was the first team to go five sets with them to clinch home court advantage in the first round. In the 3-1 loss to Texas A&M-Commerce, she had 19 kills, nine digs and five blocks. The Midland native is third in the LSC with 323 kills.
DEFENSIVE
Baleigh Allen, Angelo State, SR, MBA, MB, Katy, Texas, Taylor HS
Allen was an imposing figure at the net for the Belles as they clinched the LSC Regular Season Championship. Against St. Mary's, she recorded nine block assists as the Rattlers only hit .111 for the match. The next day against St. Edward's, she recorded eight more block assists, holding the Hilltoppoers to a .117 hitting percentage. The senior finished the regular season on top of the league with 1.24 blocks per set.
SETTER
Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State, SR, Public Health, Setter, Fort Worth, Texas, Boswell HS
Gilbreath posted a pair of triple-doubles as the Belles claimed the LSC Regular Season Championship. Against St. Mary's, she assisted 29 times as well as recording 11 kills and 19 digs. Against St. Edward's, Gilbreath recorded 23 assists to go with 10 kills and a season-high 20 digs. For the week, the Belles hit .225 as a team. The Fort Worth native is third in the country with six triple-doubles.
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)
N-2 Mikaela Garvin, Eastern New Mexico
N-9 Sage Chain, Lubbock Christian
N-16 Aquincia Strambler, UT Permian Basin
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
N-2 Chloe Patton, Angelo State (2)
N-9 Chloe Patton, Angelo State (3)
N-16 Baleigh Allen, Angelo State (3)
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
N-2 Rae Sapiga, Eastern New Mexico
N-9 Callie Craus, UT Tyler (2)
N-16 Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State (3)
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Maddy Rashford, Texas A&M-Commerce, had a .246 hitting percentage in the two matches this past week for 30 kills in the two wins for the Lions. Rashford also had three blocks and averaged 4.29 kills per set. She is ninth in the LSC with an average of 3.29 kills per set.
Addison Mulroney, Texas Woman's, in dropped matches to West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico this weekend, they out attacked their opponent in each match. Mulroney led all hitters for TWU in kills and points. While recording double digit kills (13,11), Mulroney committed 10 errors.
Delaney Fuller, Angelo State, turned in a pair of double-doubles as the Belles claimed the LSC Championship. The Californian recorded 11 kills and 17 digs against St. Mary's. Against St. Edward's, she had a game-high 12 kills to go with a career-high 24 digs.
Morgan Demuth, Oklahoma Christian, led the Eagles in kills (24) and hit a healthy .537 as OC rallied to win matches over Texas A&M-Kingsville (3-2) on Friday and Texas A&M International (3-1) on Saturday to earn the final spot in the LSC tournament. Demuth also had a block solo and six block assists. She led OC with 14 kills in the four-set win over TAMIU, and came up clutch – with OC trailing 23-22 in the fourth set, she had consecutive kills to give the Eagles a match point, which teammate Kyla Chavez cashed in with an ace. OC extended its winning streak to four matches – its longest since the program returned with the 2021 spring season.
Hannah Holland, UAFS, hit .400 with a team-high 19 kills in wins over Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville. She also had a team-high 11 blocks on the weekend. In the win over TAMIU, Holland hit .474 with 11 kills, five blocks and four digs. She followed that up with eight kills, six blocks and one dig in the sweep of TAMUK.
Julia Deais, St. Mary’s, was a force at the net in both matches for the Rattlers, hitting .429 in the sweep over Lubbock Christian and grabbing seven blocks in the loss to top-seeded Angelo State. She averaged 1.43 blocks per set, well above her season average to help StMU jump up to the nine seed in the standings.
Gabi Sandoval, St. Mary’s, her defense helped lead the Rattlers to a sweep over Lubbock Christian as she led the team with 14 digs in the three sets. She also had 10 receptions with no errors in the match and twice scrambled and dove for balls well out of the court of play to save a rally. Her and the defense had a perfect passing day, as LCU didn't serve an ace in the entire match -- the first time since 2017 the Rattlers were not aced at least once. She and the rest of the Rattlers also held top-seeded Angelo State to just a .218 hitting percentage in the four-set match, as she tallied 23 digs. It is the eighth time this year she's had 20 or more digs in a match.
Jazzlyn Wells, UAFS, averaged 4.38 digs per set in the wins and totaled 35 digs in the two matches. She had 16 digs and four assists in the win over the Dustdevils and a team-high 19 digs with two assists in the Senior Day win over the Javelinas. UAFS held TAMUK to a .118 attack percentage for the match.
Daylee Doggett, UT Permian Basin, and the Falcons came from behind to upset No. 13 UT Tyler in five sets on Saturday. The Falcons trailed 2-0 and came back to defeat the Patriots. Doggett had 16 digs as the Falcons defeated the top team in the LSC in hitting percentage. She had 23 digs against the fourth best team in terms of hitting percentage on Thursday and is now second in the conference in digs. UTPB was 1-1 on the week with a loss to Texas A&M-Commerce.
Brylie Berryman, Oklahoma Christian, had 39 digs (4.33 per set) as OC rallied to win matches over Texas A&M-Kingsville (3-2) on Friday and Texas A&M International (3-1) on Saturday to earn the final spot in the LSC tournament. She served a career-high four aces in the win over TAMUK, two coming on the final points of the second and fourth sets, respectively. Against TAMIU, she had 23 digs to go with seven assists, her second-highest total of the season in the latter category. OC extended its winning streak to four matches – its longest since the program returned with the 2021 spring season.
Lyric Hebert, Texas A&M-Commerce, averaged 4.29 digs per sets in the two wins this past week for A&M-Commerce. She and the Lions held UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico to a hitting percentage of .169 this past week. Hebert also had seven assists and a service ace. She is seventh in the LSC with an average of 4.60 digs per set.
Celeste Vela, Texas A&M-Commerce, finished a stellar 2021 season, leading the LSC in assists. She had 81 assists on an average of 11.57 assists per set in the two matches against UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico, helping the Lions hit .267 on the weekend. She also had 20 digs and a service ace. Vela is first in the LSC with 905 assists and an average of 10.4 assists per set.
Analise Lucio, UT Permian Basin, had a huge week for the Falcons with 103 total assists. The senior led the Falcon comeback on senior day to upset No. 13 UT Tyler. Trailing two sets to none, the Falcons came back against one of the best teams in the nation. In the three sets they won, the Falcons hit .407 against the third best defense in the LSC. In the final two sets the Falcons only committed two errors and hit .500. Lucio also added in 11 kills, 19 digs, and five blocks as the Falcons clinched home court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. UTPB was 1-1 on the week with a loss to Texas A&M-Commerce.
Emily Tran, St. Edward’s, earned her 2,000th career assist on Saturday against Angelo State. The Hilltoppers went five sets with Lubbock Christian and four sets with ASU. Tran posted 62 assists Friday night against LCU.
Chloe Alderson, UAFS, averaged 9.25 assists and dished out 74 total assists in wins over Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville. She had 40 assists with a team-high 17 digs along with four kills in the win over TAMIU as UAFS hit .333 in the decisive fifth set. She then had 34 assists and eight kills in the sweep of TAMUK.
Bailey Wozniak, Texas Woman's, in the final weekend of the regular season, recorded 25 or more assists for the 10th and 11th time this season, respectively. She also recorded seven blocks for the week in losses to West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico.
Spencer Plato, Oklahoma Christian, shined as OC rallied to win matches over Texas A&M-Kingsville (3-2) on Friday and Texas A&M International (3-1) on Saturday to earn the final spot in the LSC tournament. Against TAMUK, Plato had 34 assists (just three off her season high) and 12 digs to go with a block assist, an ace and four kills while posting a .429 attack percentage. In the 3-1 win over TAMIU, OC posted a .285 hitting percentage, its second-best of the season, thanks in good part to Plato, who had 20 assists and 16 digs. OC extended its winning streak to four matches – its longest since the program returned with the 2021 spring season.
Cali Nims, St. Mary’s, tied her career-high with four service aces in the sweep over Lubbock Christian and added a double-double with 21 assists and 11 digs. Against Angelo State, Nims tallied a career-high 17 digs and added 18 assists for another double-double. Nims now leads the Rattlers in aces for the season with 29.