Five teams - Texas A&M-Kingsville, UT Tyler, Angelo State, Lubbock Christian, and UT Permian Basin - are undefeated after one week of Lone Star Conference action.
LSC play continues with matches on Friday and Saturday. The LSC is utilizing a single round-robin scheduling model, in which every team plays a single game versus each conference team to determine the LSC champion.
LSC volleyball teams are 78-81 overall this season. The squads are currently 13-15 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
Jackie Alanis, Texas A&M-Kingsville, SO, Pharmacy, OH, McAllen, Texas, James Nikki Rowe HS
Alanis put on a pair of fantastic performances during her team's first weekend of conference play, helping the Javelinas notch a pair of wins and improve to 7-0 on the season. She started the week by churning out 18 kills and hitting .387 with nine digs and a pair of aces in a sweep of Cameron. On Saturday, Alanis hit a season-best .500 on 20 attacks, committing only one error against 11 smashes in another three-set triumph over Midwestern State. For the week, the sophomore from McAllen sent in 4.83 kills per set for a .431 clip. Her average of 3.81 kills per set for the season puts her fifth in the LSC.
DEFENSIVE
Hannah Froeschl, Lubbock Christian, SR, BBS - Accounting, MB, League City, Texas, Clear Creek HS
Froeschl helped LCU to a 2-0 week and their first 2-0 LSC start in program history with sweeps over UAFS and Oklahoma Christian. She paced the Lady Chaps with 1.33 blocks per set as opponents hit .043. Against UAFS, Froeschl led LCU in points with 11.0, compiled by six kills, three solo blocks and two aces. She posted a career-high in solo blocks with three in the contest. It ties for the fifth-most since 2008 in program history. Froeschl followed with 10 kills and five blocks against OC.
SETTER
Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State, SR, Public Health, Setter, Fort Worth, Texas, Boswell HS
Gilbreath continues to be the fulcrum of the Belles attack as they opened LSC play with a pair of victories. Against Oklahoma Christian, she recorded 21 assists as the team hit .254 in the sweep. Against UAFS, she added 21 more assists to go along with 11 kills for her fifth double-double on the season. Against the Lady Lions, the Belles hit a season-best .349.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
S-7 Christina Escamilla, UT Tyler
S-14 Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State
S-21 Jackie Alanis, Texas A&M-Kingsville
Defensive
S-7 Savannah Guzman, UT Tyler
S-14 Baleigh Allen, Angelo State
S-21 Hannah Froeschl, Lubbock Christian
Setter
S-7 Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State
S-14 Celeste Vela, Texas A&M-Commerce
S-21 Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State (2)
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Halee Van Poppel, DBU, led the Lady Patriots with 37 kills and an average of 5.7 kills per set last week. Van Poppel's 25-kill performance in a win over St. Mary's on Friday were the most kills by a Lady Patriot since November 23, 2013. Van Poppel also posted a team-best .333 hitting percentage in the win over the Rattlers and a team-high 25 points. For the week, Van Poppel led DBU with a .269 hitting percentage and 37 points.
Torrey Miller, West Texas A&M, led West Texas A&M's offense in kills for the third week in a row averaging 4.43 kills per set. The Brownwood native totaled 31 kills on 89 attempts to hit .258 including 15 against nationally-ranked UT Tyler. Miller now ranks second in the conference with 124 kills on the season.
Mackenzie Catalina, Texas A&M International, was yet again a catalyst for the Dustdevils, helping the team to its first win of the season in a 1-1 weekend to open conference play. In a 3-2 loss to Midwestern State, Catalina totaled 19 kills on 54 attacks with a .241 hitting percentage, as well as 20 digs, a solo block and block assist. In the team's first win of the season against Cameron (3-1), Catalina added another 18 kills on 48 attacks with a .250 hitting percentage. She also accrued 14 digs, one assist, one service ace and a block assist.
Alissa Tolbert, St. Mary’s, led team to its first-ever road LSC win with 11 kills and a .417 hitting percentage against Texas Woman's. The Rattlers snapped a 16-match road losing streak in league play. She had just one hitting error as the L1 against the Pioneers. She recorded double-doubles in both matches, with 11 kills and 20 digs at DBU, followed up with 11 kills and 11 digs at TWU. For the week, Tolbert averaged 3.14 kills and 4.43 digs per set.
Christina Escamilla, UT Tyler, needed just 39 swings to put down 21 kills this weekend in 3-1 and 3-0 wins for #25 UT Tyler to open up Lone Star Conference play. Escamilla hit .513 for the weekend and committed just a single attacking error between the two Patriot victories over West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico. The Arlington, Texas native had eight kills and a pair of block assists in the 3-1 win over West Texas A&M on Friday night, and then led the way offensively for UT Tyler with 13 kills in just three sets against Eastern New Mexico in the 3-0 win on Saturday. She posted attack percentages of .400 and .632 in the two matches respectively and leads the Lone Star Conference with a .500 attack percentage for the year.
Baleigh Allen, Angelo State, was highly efficient on the offensive end to open LSC play for the Belles. Against both Oklahoma Christian and UAFS, the senior recorded seven kills on nine attempts, committing no attacking errors in the process, racking up a .778 attack percentage for the week.
Hannah Froeschl, Lubbock Christian, helped lead LCU to a 2-0 week and their first 2-0 LSC start in program history (third season in the LSC). She led LCU on the week with 23.5 points in 3-0 wins over UAFS and Oklahoma Christian. Against UAFS, Froeschl led LCU in points with 11.0, compiled by six kills, three solo blocks and two aces. She posted a career-high in solo blocks with three in the contest. It ranks tied for the fifth-most since 2008 (for a Lady Chap). Froeschl followed with 10 kills and five blocks against OC. She hit over .300 in each match and finished hitting .361 on the week.
Maiya Dickie, Texas A&M-Commerce, had just one kill in the first set of Friday’s match against Eastern New Mexico, but the redshirt sophomore became the main attacker for the Lions in the remaining four sets. She totaled 14 kills and two blocks in the five-set match. On Saturday, she finished second on the team with seven kills and a block.
Nicole Murff, Texas A&M-Kingsville, led a stifling Javelina defense at the libero spot, reeling off 36 digs and averaged 6.0 digs per set in two matches. In a win over Cameron on Friday, she collected 18 scoops to help the Javelinas hold the Aggies to only 26 kills and a .170 hitting percentage in a Blue and Gold victory. When the Javelinas defeated Midwestern State on Saturday, Murff tallied another 18 digs as the Javelinas limited MSU to a kill rate of .047. Murff's efforts helped her team limit opponents to a .103 hitting percentage for the week and she currently leads the LSC with an average of 5.33 digs per set. Her stat line for the week included five aces as well and helped put her at the top of the LSC leaderboard in aces per set at 0.56.
Leah Palensky, DBU, led the Lady Patriots with 39 digs and an average of 5.6 dig per set last week while holding St. Mary's and St. Edward's to a combined .164 hitting percentage. In DBU's win over St. Mary's, Palensky registered a team-high 18 digs, followed by a season-high 21 dig performance versus St. Edward's.
Sydney Stroh, Texas Woman's, anchored the back line for the Pioneers, turning in a season-best 24 digs in TWU's 3-1 win over St. Edward's. She has now reached double figures in digs in all but one match this season.
Daniela Sandoval, Texas A&M International, sparked the Dustdevils defensively in their 1-1 weekend to open conference play. For the weekend, Sandoval totaled 46 digs (22 vs Midwestern State, 24 vs Cameron) and an average of 5.11 digs per set. Sandoval also chipped in at the service line, with two aces.
Gabi Sandoval, St. Mary’s, led the Rattlers with 4.43 digs per set over the weekend and her 14 digs against TWU helped the Rattlers win their first-ever road match in Lone Star Conference play. Sandoval also had her first kill of the season when a free ball fell for a kill against the Pioneers. She had a reception percentage of .935 and a serve percentage of .933 for the week. Sandoval also added four assists in the two matches.
Riley Davidson, Texas A&M-Commerce, led the Lions this past weekend with 30 total digs in two matches. She had 13 in Friday’s five set match against Eastern New Mexico and 17 in Saturday’s three set match against West Texas A&M. She also had three aces this past weekend.
Mikayla Ware, UT Tyler, totaled 22 digs between the two #25 UT Tyler wins this weekend, including a 19-kill, 13-dig double-double in Friday's 3-1 win over West Texas A&M. Ware led the team with 19 kills and finished second on the team in the match with 13 digs to total 20.0 points scored in the match. Saturday's 3-0 win over Eastern New Mexico nearly saw the second straight double-double for Ware, as she posted eight kills and nine digs in the three-set victory for the Patriots. Ware ranks in the top 10 in the Lone Star Conference both in kills per set and digs per set.
Baleigh Allen, Angelo State, was once again a dominant force for the Belles at the net to open LSC play. Against Oklahoma Christian, Allen recorded three blocks as the Eagles recorded an .031 attack percentage. Against UAFS, the senior recorded a solo block as well as two block assists. The Katy native leads all players in the LSC in blocks, averaging 1.15 per set.
Maison Kosse, Texas A&M International, had a fantastic weekend for the Dustdevils opening conference play. In the two games against Midwestern State and Cameron, Kosse totaled 104 assists (53 vs Midwestern State, 51 vs Cameron) and 11.55 assists per set. In the loss to Midwestern State, Kosse added 13 digs, while in the victory against Cameron, she accrued 15 digs and three service aces.
Jalee Sims, Lubbock Christian, helped LCU to their first 2-0 LSC start in program history with a pair of straight-set (3-0) wins over UAFS and Oklahoma Christian. Sims was a big contributor to the pair of wins, as she posted a pair of double-doubles and has double-doubles in her past four games. She posted 28 assists and 10 digs against UAFS and 26 assists and 11 digs against OC, while helping the Lady Chaps to hit .286 against the Lions and .228 against OC. Sims also contributed five kills and an ace on the weekend.
Celeste Vela, Texas A&M-Commerce, last week’s LSC Setter of the Week, continued her run of excelling as the Lions’ primary setter. She had 71 assists in the two matches this past weekend in eight sets. Vela had 40 in five sets against Eastern New Mexico and 31 in three sets against West Texas A&M. Her average of 9.38 assists per set is third among all LSC setters. She also had 20 digs and 10 kills this past weekend.
Madeleine Stolzer, Texas A&M-Kingsville, helped set up a Javelina offense that crafted a .305 hitting percentage in back-to-back wins over Cameron and Midwestern State. Against the Aggies, Stolzer tossed out 38 assists, a new career-high, and her efforts helped the Javs to hit at a .307 clip in a sweep. In a victory over the Mustangs, Stolzer added another 10 helpers and TAMUK hit .303 in another three-set triumph. Stolzer's 91 assists are already more than she posted in the spring, and she's helped her team put together the LSC's second-best hitting percentage at .251.
Callie Craus, UT Tyler, totaled 49 assists in the two #25 UT Tyler wins over West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico over the weekend to help operate an offense that ranks amongst the nation's best so far in 2021. Craus notched a double-double in Friday night's 3-1 win over West Texas A&M for the Patriots, totaling 23 assists and 11 digs, while also chipping in five service aces in the match. She followed up that performance on Friday night with 26 assists and six digs in just three sets as UT Tyler took down Eastern New Mexico by a 3-0 final to finish the weekend with a 2-0 record. Craus didn't record a single ball handling error or reception error in either match, and led a UT Tyler offense that averaged 14.57 kills per set for the weekend. Craus ranks sixth in the LSC with an average of 7.81 assists per set on the year.
Blair Moreland, West Texas A&M, paced the Lady Buffs offense in week three totaling 47 assists including a season-high 28 against nationally-ranked 25th UT Tyler. The freshman averaged 6.71 assists with two service aces and 14 digs for WT.