Three Lone Star Conference teams - Angelo State (13-0), UT Tyler (10-0), and Texas A&M-Kingsville (9-0) - remain unbeaten on the season.
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
Melissa McNeil, St. Edward’s, SR, Chemistry, OH, League City, Texas, Clear Creek HS
McNeil led St. Edward's to a pair of wins at St. Mary's, leading the team in kills and hitting percentage with just six errors in 78 attempts. In Tuesday's win, she recorded 15 kills in the sweep while hitting .438. On Wednesday, McNeil put down 19 kills and hit .304 as SEU won in five sets. She added 15 digs and five blocks to lead the Hilltoppers.
DEFENSIVE
Chloe Patton, Angelo State, JR, Biology, Defensive Specialist, Gillett, Texas, La Vernia HS
Patton had a phenomenal performance for the Angelo State Belles this past week, registering 106 total digs against five opponents in 16 sets to help ASU remain undefeated both at home and in conference play. Patton averaged 6.63 digs per set as the Belles held opponents to a .065 hitting percentage. She registered 18 total assists as well, averaging 1.13 assists per set.
SETTER
Lindsey Ledyard, Angelo State, SR, Marketing, Setter, Cedar Park, Texas, Cedar Park HS
Ledyard continues to be a well-oiled machine for Angelo State and kept the offense going with a .288 hitting percentage last week. She recorded 111 assists against Texas A&M International, Western New Mexico, Midwestern State and Lubbock Christian in 16 sets this past week. Ledyard posted 7.40 assists per set and had 33 digs for the Belles, averaging 2.20 digs per set on defense. She added four kills and scored 12 points for the Belles, seven of which were service aces.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
J-29 Evelyn Torres, UT Tyler
F-4 Hannah Callison, UT Tyler
F-11 Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State
F-25 Mackenzie Catalina, Texas A&M International
M-4 Melissa McNeil, St. Edward’s
Defensive
J-29 Mikayla Ware, UT Tyler
F-4 Sydney Anderson, Texas A&M-Commerce
F-11 Mikayla Ware, UT Tyler (2)
F-25 Chandler Vogel, West Texas A&M
M-4 Chloe Patton, Angelo State
Setter
J-29 Taylor Stoops, UT Tyler
F-4 Taylor Stoops, UT Tyler (2)
F-11 Lindsey Ledyard, Angelo State
F-25 Emily Witt, Texas A&M-Kingsville
M-4 Lindsey Ledyard, Angelo State (2)
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Torrey Miller, West Texas A&M, continued to lead the way offensively for the Lady Buffs this past week as WT ran their win streak to six matches with a pair of LSC road wins at UT Permian Basin. The Brownwood, Texas native registered 39 kills on 109 swings with 17 attack errors to hit .202 on the week with three assists, two aces, three blocks and 35 blocks in the eight sets for an average of 4.38 per frame. Miller registered a double-double in both matches in Odessa to run her season total to eight as she has now tallied double-digit kills in all 10 matches this season while reaching the 20-kill plateau twice.
Meghan Merlino, Texas A&M-Kingsville, in two Javelina victories over Texas A&M International, tied for a team-high with 22 kills and added 18 digs as the Javelinas ran their win streak to nine-in-a-row. The Javs swept the Dustdevils on Tuesday and Merlino collected her third double-double of the year, recording 11 kills at a .265 hitting percentage to go with 11 digs. One day later, the senior from Sacramento fired off 11 more kills in just two sets while hitting .250 as TAMUK improved to 9-0. Overall, Merlino hit .258 in 62 attacks and her rate of 4.40 kills per set led her team.
Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State, continues to show why she was the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, scoring 67 points off of 59 kills this past week, hitting with a .324 hitting percentage. Averaging 3.69 kills per set and 4.19 points per set, Gilbreath was also a force to be reckoned with on defense as well, registering 12 block assists and 27 digs for the Belles. She has also been very versatile and showing her skills as a setter, registering 65 assists and averaging 4.06 per set against Angelo States opponents.
Alissa Tolbert, St. Mary’s, recorded two double-doubles in three matches throughout the week, leading the team with 20 kills on a .311 hitting percentage against undefeated Texas A&M-Kingsville to go along with 13 digs. On Wednesday, Tolbert recorded her seventh double-double in nine matches with 15 kills and 13 digs.
Taylor Anderson, Midwestern State, helped the team go 2-2 over the weekend and week. The junior recorded 38 kills in four games, recording 2.53 kills per set. With that she had a .294 hitting percentage against Western New Mexico, Texas A&M International, Angelo State, and Cameron. The outside hitter was tied with the most blocks on the team at 9. Her 0.194 hitting percent is currently ranked 30th in the conference for the year.
Christina Escamilla, UT Tyler, hit .424 in the Patriot's two wins over Texas A&M-Commerce this week to remain undefeated and clinch their Divisional Title. Escamilla totaled 17 kills on just 33 swings and recorded 19.0 points between the two matches. She notched nine kills in Tuesday's 3-0 sweep and eight kills in Wednesday 3-1 victory. She leads the Lone Star Conference with a season hitting percentage of .411 for the year.
Tabitha Spray, Texas Woman's, turned in a triple-double with 10 kills, 35 assists, and 17 digs in the Pioneers' five-set loss to DBU.
Chandler Vogel, West Texas A&M, registered a standout week in the back row for the Lady Buffs as they ran their win streak to six matches on Tuesday and Wednesday with LSC divisional wins over UT Permian Basin at the Falcon Dome in Odessa. The Hereford High School product registered 46 digs in the eight sets for an average of 5.75 per frame to go along with one kill, nine assists and two service aces as the Lady Buffs registered a team attack percentage of .231 on the week while allowing just a .149 clip by the powerful UTPB offense. Vogel has now registered 2,055 digs to sit just 31 shy of Lauren Britten (2013-16) for fourth place on WT's all-time list.
Mikayla Ware, UT Tyler, helped UT Tyler claim the divisional title this week and remain undefeated with a perfect 10-0 record on the year. Ware posted a 13-kill, 19-dig double-double in Wednesday's 3-1 win over the Lions in route to totaling 21 kills for the week. She led the team with 30 digs, recording 11 in Tuesday's sweep over Texas A&M-Commerce, and totaled 25.0 points between the two matches. The San Antonio, Texas native hit .261 for the week and committed just three attacking errors.
Jaycie Fuller, Midwestern State, recorded made 64 digs within four games and 15 sets to register 4.27 digs per set. For the year, her digs per set ranks 11th in the conference. In the win against Western New Mexico, the defensive specialist recorded 28 digs, her highest of the year so far. She led the team with her 64 digs and limited the opponents to a .170 hitting percent. The defensive specialist also has 13 assists for the Mustangs for a 0.13 assist per set.
Hannah Holland, UAFS, hosted a block party in Wednesday's win over Oklahoma Christian, totaling six assisted blocks and two solo blocks as the team accumulated 13 blocks for the match. She also added a season high eight digs in the four set win. In Tuesday's win, Holland had four total blocks (1 solo, 3 assisted) and four digs. UAFS also held OC to a .022 attack percentage in the sweep, the lowest of the season. Offensively, she had 13 kills on a .265 attack percentage and three aces. She now leads the LSC with 1.37 blocks per set.
Ayanna Jackson, Texas A&M-Kingsville, defense helped the Javelinas collect a pair of wins over Texas A&M International while holding the Dustdevils to a .109 hitting percentage. In a Tuesday night sweep, Jackson piled up six block assists and added 10 kills swinging at a .296 clip. One day later, Jackson helped lead the Javelinas to a four-set victory, picking up two more blocks and 12 kills along the way at a .267 hitting percentage. For the week, Jackson averaged 1.14 blocks per set, tied for a team-high with 22 kills while posting a .281 kill rate.
Sadie Snay, West Texas A&M, continued to guide the Lady Buff offense this past week as WT picked up a pair of Lone Star Conference divisional wins at UT Permian Basin to run their win streak to six matches. The Kingman, Arizona product dished out 78 assists in the eight sets for an average of 9.75 per frame to go along with 10 kills on 14 swings with no attack errors to hit .714 in the wins. Snay registered one service ace to go along with three blocks and 28 digs with a pair of double-doubles in the two victories. The Lady Buffs registered a .231 attack percentage in the pair of wins.
Emily Tran, St. Edward’s, was a stable, constant presence as the SEU found its flow against St. Mary's this week, leading the Hilltoppers to a pair of wins.
Autumn Roach, Midwestern State, recorded 87 assists in four games against Western New Mexico (24), Texas A&M International (22), Angelo State (20), and Cameron (21). She made 5.80 assists per set (in 15 sets). The setter also registered 6 service aces, with three coming against Cameron. She had 23 digs and 1.53 digs per set. The freshman helped the Mustangs to a .181 hitting percent and leads the team in assists. She had only four ball handling errors in the four games.
Taylor Stoops, UT Tyler, totaled 29 assists between the two Patriot wins over the week to clinch the Divisional Title for UT Tyler and move their record to a perfect 10-0. Stoops also notched 13 digs in the two efforts and helped manufacture an offense that hit .235 for the week. She totaled 18 assists and seven digs just three sets in Tuesday night's 3-0 win over the Lions and 11 assists and six digs in the 3-1 victory on Wednesday night.