Three teams – Angelo State, UT Tyler, and West Texas A&M - top the Lone Star Conference standings with one league loss each with two weeks of regular season contests left.
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 186-195 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
Mikaela Garvin, Eastern New Mexico, FR, Biology, OH, San Antonio, Texas, Harlan HS
Garvin had a highly efficient weekend, helping the Greyhounds to a 2-0 record. Garvin posted 14 kills with a hitting percentage of .433, while making just one hitting error during ENMU's 3-2 victory over Texas A&M International. The next day, Garvin was clinical again with 13 kills on 23 swings, with one error, for a hitting percentage of .522 in a 3-0 sweep of Texas A&M-Kingsville. For the week, she tallied 3.38 kills per set while hitting .472.
DEFENSIVE
Chloe Patton, Angelo State, SR, Biology, Libero, Gillett, Texas, La Vernia HS
Patton paced the Belles' defensive effort this past weekend in a pair of road victories. Against UT Permian Basin, she recorded 25 digs to hold the Falcons to a .101 attack percentage, their lowest mark in a four-set match this season. Against Western New Mexico, she added in 11 digs. For the week, she had 5.14 digs per set as ASU improved to 12-1 in LSC games.
SETTER
Rae Sapiga, Eastern New Mexico, JR, Social Work, Setter, Long Beach, California, Los Alamitos HS
Sapiga helped the Hounds to a 2-0 weekend, to extend the Greyhounds win streak to five straight wins. Sapiga supplied 31 assists in Eastern's 3-2 victory over Texas A&M International while following up the next with 26 assists in the Hounds 3-0 sweep of Texas A&M-Kingsville. The marks were the second and third most assists for Sapiga during the season as the team posted a .256 hitting percentage. For the week, she had 7.13 assists per set in the 6-2 offense, four aces, and 12 digs.
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
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)
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
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Kaitlyn Krafka, St. Edward’s, was the primary offensive threat for the Hilltoppers and was incredibly effective, posting a .373 attack percentage with 25 kills and just six errors on 51 attempts in two games. SEU didn't drop a set all weekend, winning 3-0 against Cameron and Midwestern State.
Mikayla Ware, UT Tyler, totaled 32.5 points to help lead UT Tyler to 3-1 and 3-0 wins over Texas Woman's and DBU in their regular season home finales. Ware put down 27 kills, 18 on Friday night and nine on Saturday afternoon, and also chipped in 19 digs to the efforts. She combined those nine digs in Saturday's 3-0 sweep of DBU with three services aces, 12 digs and a solo block. Ware ranks second in the LSC with an average of 3.95 kills per set on the year.
Aaliyah Gray, Lubbock Christian, led LCU with 25 kills on the week as they improved to 9-1 in road play with wins at Western New Mexico (3-0) and UT Permian Basin (3-1). She hit .300 on the week, getting 11 kills at WNMU and 14 at UTPB. Gray tied a career high in blocks at UTPB with four blocks. She also had nine digs on the week.
Nicki Gonelli, Texas A&M-Commerce, played eight of the nine sets this past week and had 28 kills on an average of 3.5 kills per set. She had 18 kills with no errors on Tuesday against Southeastern Oklahoma State, which are tied for the most kills in a three-set match in the LSC this season. Her rate of 18 kills and no errors, are the second most with no errors in NCAA Division II this year. She had six kills versus DBU and four against Texas Woman's.
Ayanna Jackson, Texas A&M-Kingsville, put together one of her best performances of the season on Saturday in the loss to Eastern New Mexico. She registered 17 kills, a new season-high and the second-highest total of her career. That kill total came on 28 attacks with only five errors for a team-high .429 hitting percentage that contributed to a .368 kill rate for the week. Against West Texas A&M, Jackson had three kills in the defeat.
Lindsey Ogle, St. Mary’s, posted a pair of double figure kill totals in the Rattlers first weekend sweep of the Lone Star Conference season. She hit a match-high .429 (12-3-21) in the team's win over Midwestern State and was second on the team with four blocks in the victory over Cameron.
Grace White, Angelo State, was efficient on the offensive side of the ball for the Belles this past week on the road. Against UTPB, she converted 10 kills in 15 attempts without committing an error for a .667 hitting percentage. Against Western New Mexico, she had seven kills in 11 attempts for a .545 attack percentage. The senior is hitting .299 for the season, 11th-best in the LSC.
Savannah Guzman, UT Tyler, averaged 4.57 digs per set and helped limit Texas Woman's and DBU to a combined .138 hitting percentage for the weekend. The Patriots allowed an average of just 10.71 kills per set between their seven sets in 3-1 and 3-0 wins this weekend and were lead by Guzman's 32 digs between the two matches. She totaled 10 digs in the 3-1 win over Texas Woman's on Friday and then notched 22 digs in just three sets against DBU. Guzman ranks third in the LSC with an average of 4.93 digs per set in 2021.
Lyric Hebert, Texas A&M-Commerce, helped the Lions go 3-0 this past week against Southeastern Oklahoma State, DBU and Texas Woman’s, the Lions won all nine sets. She had 37 digs on a clip of 4.11 digs per set. She also served up three aces. Hebert is averaging 4.59 digs per set, which is seventh in the LSC and her average of 0.33 aces per set is 10th.
Daejia Rodriguez, Eastern New Mexico, had an important role defensively, helping the Hounds go 2-0 this past weekend and extending its win streak to five-straight games. Rodriguez posted 19 digs during the Hounds 3-2 win over Texas A&M International. Rodriguez helped Eastern post a season-best 81 digs against the Dustdevils, holding TAMIU to a hitting percentage of .109. The next day, Rodriguez collected 11 digs in ENMU's 3-0 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Javelinas were held to a hitting percentage of .139.
Jillienne Connell, St. Edward’s, led an outstanding blocking weekend for the Hilltoppers as they held their opponents to .060 for the weekend without dropping a set. Connell posted five block assists in each match for 10 block assists on the weekend.
Emily Tran, St. Edward’s, ran the offense splendidly over the weekend that saw the Hilltoppers hit near .300. Tran averaged 11.17 assists and added two kills on six attempts for a .333 attack percentage herself. Additionally, Tran was second on the team in digs with 23 at nearly 4.00 per set, further limiting her ability to rack up assists. She also added four block assists.
Jalee Sims, Lubbock Christian, had a memorable road trip, as LCU improved to 9-1 in road play with wins at Western New Mexico (3-0) and UT Permian Basin (3-1). Sims celebrated her birthday Thursday at WNMU with 34 assists to surpass 1,000 in her LCU career. She provided the assists in a contest LCU hit .319. She followed with 41 assists in a big victory at UTPB to keep LCU in the top-4 of the LSC standings. Sims also had 25 digs on the week, with 16 at UTPB for her 14th double-double of the season.
Celeste Vela, Texas A&M-Commerce, continues to lead the LSC in setting and averaged 10.56 assists in nine sets and three wins for the Lions this past week. She had at least 31 assists in all three matches and had 32 against Southeastern Oklahoma State and Texas Woman’s. She also contributed to other facets of the match with 10 kills, 24 digs, and five assisted blocks. She has 794 assists on the set, the next closest setter in the LSC has 640. Her average of 10.45 assists per set also leads the league.
Callie Craus, UT Tyler, led the Patriots to 3-1 and 3-0 wins over Texas Woman's and DBU this weekend, totaling 44 assists and 18 digs between the two matches. The Grapevine, Texas native had one of her best matches to date in the 3-1 win over Texas Woman's on Friday night, notching a double-double with 26 assists and 15 digs while also contributing four service aces in the match. UT Tyler posted a season-high 10 aces as a team in that victory over the Pioneers. Craus followed up that performance with 18 assists in the three-set win on Saturday afternoon over DBU. UT Tyler averaged nearly 15 kills per set (14.43) for the weekend thanks to the continued solid setter play from Craus.
Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State, continues to be the difference-maker for the Belles as they claimed a pair of road wins. Against UT Permian Basin, she recorded her third triple-double in as many weeks with 10 kills, 22 assists and 17 digs. Against Western New Mexico, she assisted 21 times as the Belles hit a season-best .374 for the match.
Cali Nims, St. Mary’s, helped pace the Rattlers offense to its first Lone Star weekend sweep of the season with a pair of four-set victories. She served seven aces with just one error and posted a double-double with 22 assists and 12 digs in the victory over Cameron. The pair of wins guaranteed the Rattlers of a winning regular season record for the first time since 2017.