Angelo State and UT Tyler lead the Lone Star Conference standings with one league loss apiece with one week 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 203-212 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
Sage Chain, Lubbock Christian, JR, Animal Science, MB, Schertz, Texas, Clemens HS
The Lady Chaps clinched a first-round-bye for the Lone Star Conference Championships behind the play of Chain, as LCU defeated Eastern New Mexico (3-1) and No. 25 West Texas A&M (3-2) at home to move into third place in the LSC standings. Chain opened the week with 11 kills and 8 blocks for a team-leading 16 points in their win over ENMU, which ended the Greyhounds five-match win streak. She followed against WT with 19 kills and five blocks (three solo) for 23 points. Chain had the final two kills in the fifth set, for a 15-13 set win to claim the match and the upset. Her weekly totals included 30 kills, 13 blocks, 39 points, and a .338 hitting percentage, while averaging 3.33 kills, 1.44 blocks and 4.33 points per set.
DEFENSIVE
Chloe Patton, Angelo State, SR, Biology, Libero, Gillett, Texas, La Vernia HS
Patton was the Rambelles defensive anchor this weekend as they claimed a pair of home victories. Against #25 West Texas A&M, Patton recorded 17 digs as the Belles held the Lady Buffs to a .077 hitting percentage, their lowest of the season, which also snapped the Lady Buffs' 12-match winning streak. Against Eastern New Mexico, she added in another 20 digs. For the week, Patton recorded 5.29 digs per set.
SETTER
Callie Craus, UT Tyler, SR, Kinesiology, Setter, Grapevine, Texas, Carroll Senior HS
Craus helped guide a Patriot offense that hit .282 in the Saturday night win against Texas A&M-Commerce with 26 assists in the 3-1 victory. Craus reached double-double figures as well, adding 10 digs on the evening and contributed a pair of kills to the effort.
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
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)
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)
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Halee Van Poppel, DBU, led the Lady Patriots to a pair of straight set sweeps over Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin after leading the team with 33 kills and 33.5 points. Van Poppel registered a .409 hitting percentage in DBU's two matches including a .571 hitting percentage performance on Friday versus WNMU after recording 17 kills and just one error in 28 total attacks.
Mackenzie Catalina, Texas A&M International, had a record-breaking and incredible all-around weekend for the Dustdevils. Catalina broke a 13-year-old record held by Nicole Gipson (2004-08), for kills in a career to etch her name in TAMIU history. Gipson's mark that stood all these years was 1,095. Entering the weekend needing 29 kills to break the mark, Catalina exploded for 23 kills in each contest. In a 3-2 thrilling victory over St. Mary's, Catalina added 29 digs to her 23 kills and in a 3-1 defeat to St. Edward's she added another 19 digs and a .317 hitting % to her 23 kills again.
Mikayla Ware, UT Tyler, led team in both kills (17) and digs (25) on Saturday night to help captain the Patriots to a 3-1 win over Texas A&M-Commerce. Ware's 10th double-double of the year featured her third most kills in a match in 2021 and second most digs in a match and also saw the San Antonio product hit .292 with 17 kills in 48 swings. She averaged 4.25 kills per set for match and totaled 19.0 points scored as the Patriots moved to 18-1 on the year and 14-1 in Lone Star Conference play.
Arianna Navarrete, Cameron, played two of her best matches of the season during the weekend in a win against UAFS and a five-set battle against Oklahoma Christian. The third-year player opened the weekend with 15 kills on 40 attacks in the win over the Lady Lions while adding six digs, two blocks, and one ace. Navarrete then added a career-best 20 kills on 62 attacks against the Eagles with three aces and two blocks.
Jackie Alanis, Texas A&M-Kingsville, reached double figures in both of the Javelinas’ matches last week and turned in a double-double in the victory over St. Mary's. Alanis started the week with 12 smashes on Friday against St. Edward's, then had an even better day against the Rattlers. Her Saturday stat line included 14 kills and 11 digs for her third double-double of the season and those efforts helped the Javelinas top the Rattlers in a five-set thriller. Her total number of kills for the week was 26, giving her an average of 3.25 kills per set.
Hannah Rouse, Oklahoma Christian, led team to critical road wins over Midwestern State and Cameron, fueling a match-winning comeback in the fifth set in the latter match. Against CU, she played perhaps her finest collegiate match, finishing with 17 kills (one off her career high) and a career-best 23 digs in a 3-2 win. OC, which had fought off a match point in the third set, trailed 11-7 in the fifth set before Rouse recorded five kills in a match-ending 8-0 run that gave the Eagles the win. The day before, she led OC with nine kills and added seven digs, four block assists and two aces in a 3-0 sweep at MSU. The two wins kept OC alive in the chase for a spot in the LSC postseason tournament.
Isabel Vega Calderon, Texas Woman's, reached double figure kills in both matches... 14 kills on a .324 hitting percentage, adding a dig and a block in TWU's five-set win over UT Permian Basin... followed with a 10-kill performance in a 3-0 win over Western New Mexico.
Jasmine Gannon, Eastern New Mexico, posted 11 kills in both of ENMU's matches over the weekend. Gannon posted 11 kills and 13 digs during ENMU’s 3-1 defeat against Lubbock Christian. The next day, Gannon led the team with 11 kills during the Greyhounds lost to No. 6 Angelo State, 3-1.
Caroline Swan, St. Edward’s, did it all over the weekend as both the lead attacker and from the service line with ten aces in seven sets. She hit over .300 in both matches with just three errors in 52 attempts. SEU won 3-0 at Texas A&M-Kingsville and 3-1 at Texas A&M International.
Taryn Cast, Texas A&M-Commerce, had 10 kills in Saturday’s match against No. 16 UT Tyler. She also had three aces, a block, and four digs for securing 13.5 points in the match.
Baleigh Allen, Angelo State, was error-free for the Belles this past weekend as they picked up a pair of home victories. Against No. 25 West Texas A&M, she recorded three kills and a pair of service aces. Against Eastern New Mexico, she converted 11 kills from 16 attempts for a .688 hitting percentage. The senior is second in the LSC with a .366 hitting percentage this season.
Nicole Murff, Texas A&M-Kingsville, continued her spectacular junior year with a weekend in which she scooped up 46 digs and averaged 5.75 digs per set. In her team's first match of the week, she had 15 digs against St. Edward's. One day later, her dig total reached 31, her second-most in a match this season, and she also contributed a pair of aces as the Javelinas outfought St. Mary's in a five-set victory. Murff continues to outpace the conference in digs pet set with a mark of 5.48, which also has her in the top 25 in the nation.
Yanely Pabon, Texas Woman's, posted back-to-back double figure dig matches... led TWU's defense with 26 digs in a five-set win over UT Permian Basin and a 17-dig performance against Western New Mexico... perfect in serve-receive for the week.
Lyric Hebert, Texas A&M-Commerce, led team with 21 digs in the match against No. 16 UT Tyler, she also led the team with three aces. Hebert is seventh in the LSC with an average of 4.6 digs per set and 0.4 aces per set.
Leah Palensky, DBU, helped lift the Lady Patriots to a pair of wins over Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin last week, holding the Mustangs and Falcons to a combined .155 hitting percentage. Palensky totaled 27 digs for an average of 4.5 digs per set in DBU's two wins.
Brylie Berryman, Oklahoma Christian, her defense played a big role as team picked up critical road wins at Midwestern State and Cameron. She had 13 digs and even recorded a kill in the 3-0 win at MSU, then added 17 digs with five assists, an ace and another unlikely kill in the 3-2 win at CU, a match in which OC fought off a third-set match point and rallied from down 11-7 in the fifth set. The two wins kept OC alive in the chase for a spot in the LSC postseason tournament.
Sarah Konovodoff, St. Edward’s, had no receiving errors in 29 attempts over the weekend as the Hilltoppers held opponents to just .077 attack percentage. Sarah averaged over three digs per set and added in seven assists and one ace.
Sage Chain, Lubbock Christian, helped the Lady Chaps clinched a first-round-bye for the Lone Star Conference Championship defeating Eastern New Mexico (3-1) and West Texas A&M (3-2) at home to move into third place in the LSC standings. Chain opened the week with 11 kills and 8 blocks for a team-leading 16 points in their win over ENMU, which ended the Greyhounds five-match win streak. She followed against No.25 WT with 19 kills and five blocks (three solo) for 23.0 points. She had the final two kills in the fifth set, for a 15-13 set win to claim the match and the upset. Her weekly totals included 30 kills, 13 blocks and 39 points, averaging 3.33 kills, 1.44 blocks and 4.33 points per set.
Maison Kosse, Texas A&M International, was exceptional for the Dustdevils in their 1-1 senior weekend. In a 3-2 victory over St. Mary's on Friday, Kosse earned a career high 55 assists in the win, to go with 11 digs and three kills. Against St. Edward's on Saturday, she had another 39 assists and 10 digs in the 3-1 defeat. Kosse also made history, becoming just the fourth Dustdevil in program history to eclipse the 2,000-kill milestone. She entered the weekend needing 59 to reach the benchmark.
Emily Tran, St. Edward’s, ran the offense in two wins this weekend. She averaged nearly 10.5 assists per set while adding two kills and 19 digs. Tran's hitters posted a .251 attack percentage over the weekend.
Jalee Sims, Lubbock Christian, helped LCU complete a 2-0 week, as the Lady Chaps defeated Eastern New Mexico and No. 25 West Texas A&M. Sims had 43 assists in each match and had averages of 9.56 assists and 3.22 digs per set. She completed her 25th career double-double and 14th of the season against WT, as she had 43 assists and 20 digs. She helped LCU to a .209 hitting percentage in the match, as LCU became third team to hit over .200 against WT this season.
Bailey Wozniak, Texas Woman's, led the Pioneers offense in a pair of must-win matches... turned in a career performance in a five-set win over UT Permian Basin, with 47 assists, six kills on a .462 hitting percentage, and nine digs... followed up with a 26-assist performance against Western New Mexico.
Emily Witt, Texas A&M-Kingsville, rattled off 71 assists in a pair of Javelina matches and that number was good enough to give her an average of 8.88 assists per set. Witt finished with 16 assists against St. Edward's on Friday, then set a career-high with 55 helpers on Saturday as the Javs fended off a challenge from St. Mary's to win in five sets. She also posted 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the season and added four kills. Her assist total against the Rattlers was TAMUK's highest since Casey Klobedans had 57 on Nov. 10th, 2017.
Spencer Plato, Oklahoma Christian, recorded back-to-back matches of more than 30 assists as Oklahoma Christian won at both Midwestern State and Cameron. She had 31 assists, seven digs and two block assists in a 3-0 win on Friday at MSU, then had 34 assists and nine digs in the 3-2 win over CU, a match in which OC fought off a match point in the third set, then finished the match on an 8-0 run after falling behind 11-7 in the fifth set. She had five assists during the game-clinching run. The two wins kept OC alive in the chase for a spot in the LSC postseason tournament.
Celeste Vela, Texas A&M-Commerce, had 30 assists in the four-set against No. 16 UT Tyler on Saturday. She had a double-double with 13 digs and also had two kills and a block. Vela leads the LSC with 824 assists and an average of 10.30 assists per set.
Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State, averaged another triple-double for the week as the Belles swept their weekend series. Against No. 25 West Texas A&M, she assisted 18 times as the Belles swept the Lady Buffs. Against Eastern New Mexico, she recorded her fourth triple-double in as many weeks with 30 assists to go with 14 kills and 11 digs; the Belles would hit .277 in their victory over the Greyhounds. Gilbreath is responsible for four of the five triple-doubles recorded in the LSC this season.