The Lone Star Conference volleyball season is underway with teams competing in non-conference contests.  Seven teams are unbeaten after one week.
      LSC volleyball teams are 37-27 overall this season.  The squads are currently 10-3 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
Christina Escamilla, UT Tyler, JR, Kinesiology, RS, Arlington, Texas, Martin HS
Escamilla led UT Tyler to a 4-0 start to the 2021 season this weekend and put down 64 kills on a .496 hitting percentage for the tournament. She was named to the Southeastern Classic All-Tournament team for her efforts after scoring a total of 65.0 points for the Patriots. She needed just 113 swings to notch those 64 kills and committed only eight errors over the course of the four matches. She totaled nine kills and 14 kills in the Patriot's 3-0 victories over Southern Nazarene and Emporia State to start the tournament, and then added 20-or-more kill outputs in the final two wins against New Mexico Highlands and Central Oklahoma. Escamilla hit .559 in Saturday morning's win over New Mexico Highlands, notching 21 kills in her 34 swings, and then followed that effort up in the afternoon match with 20 kills and a .462 hitting percentage against Central Oklahoma. The Arlington, Texas native leads the Lone Star Conference after the opening weekend of volleyball in attack percentage and averaged the second most kills per set (4.57) and fourth most points per set (4.64).
 
DEFENSIVE
Savannah Guzman, UT Tyler, JR, Kinesiology, DS, San Antonio, Texas, Antonian College Prep
Guzman totaled a team-high 80 digs as UT Tyler went a perfect 4-0 throughout their opening weekend of the 2021 season. The Patriots limited their opposition to a .129 team hitting percentage for the tournament, thanks in large part to Guzman's consistent defensive play in the four matches including a pair of 20-plus dig performances. She totaled 18 and 23 digs in the Patriot's 3-0 sweeps of Southern Nazarene and Emporia State on Thursday and Friday and followed up those efforts with 39 total digs in the two matches against New Mexico Highlands and Central Oklahoma on Saturday, both 3-1 UT Tyler wins. Guzman averaged the most digs per set of any player in the Lone Star Conference this weekend with an average of 5.71 per set.
 
SETTER
Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State, SR, Public Health, S/OH, Fort Worth, Texas, Boswell HS
Gilbreath ran the offense as the Rambelles went 4-0 to start the season.  The senior averaged 10.50 assists per set as the team hit .275, which tops the LSC.  She also recorded two double-doubles, with 34 assists and 12 digs versus East Central and 41 assists and 10 kills against Anderson.  Gilbreath was also a weapon offensively with a .463 attack percentage while adding 25 digs and four blocks.  She only had 209 assists at ASU entering this season.
 
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
S-7       Christina Escamilla, UT Tyler
 
Defensive
S-7       Savannah Guzman, UT Tyler
 
Setter
S-7       Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State
 
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Aquinicia Strambler, UT Permian Basin, after one weekend of play, sits second in the LSC in kills with 61 and is eighth in hitting percentage at .341.  She started the season strong with 19 kills in the season opener and finished the weekend with 17.  Strambler reached double digit kills in all four contests over the weekend.
   Torrey Miller, West Texas A&M, led the WT's offense at the BritKare Lady Buff Classic in opening weekend play where the Lady Buffs finished the tournament 4-0.  The Brownwood, Texas product was named the tournament MVP totaling 61 kills for 4.07 per set, including five service aces.
   Delaney Fuller, Angelo State, named to the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational All-Tournament Team; only recorded two matches with 10 or more kills in the spring, did it three times this weekend; game-high in kills in all four matches this weekend.
   Alissa Tolbert, St. Mary’s, recorded a double-double in each of the three St. Mary's victories at the Eagle Invitational (14k-21d in five-set win over Lubbock Christian, 17k-10d in four set win over Bentley, 20k-24d in five set win over Oklahoma Christian). She tied her career-high with 20 kills against OC -- including seven in the fifth and deciding set -- and her 24 digs against the Eagles were also a career-high. It is the second-time in Tolbert's career she's had 20 or more kills and digs in the same match. The senior also had 30 receptions against the Eagles with no errors and just one error in 30 receptions against Bentley. For the week, Tolbert averaged a team-best 3.64 kills per set to go along with 3.93 digs per set.
   Kaitlyn Krafka, St. Edward’s, led the SEU offense two four wins in their opening weekend, leading in points, points/set, kills and had the highest attack percentage of all active hitters.
   Aaliyah Gray, Lubbock Christian, was solid in her collegiate debut to help LCU to a 2-1 record at Eagle Invitational hosted by Oklahoma Christian. She led the team in kills on the week (30), leading or co-leading the team in each of their three matches on the week. In the season-opening match, against St. Mary's, she led LCU with 11 kills and was the first true freshman to post at least 10 kills in a LCU season opener since Emily Hanaway posted 16 kills in 2015 against Adams State. LCU's wins were 3-0 wins, which marked consecutive 3-0 wins for the first time since Oct. 11 and Oct. 13, 2018.
   Ayanna Jackson, Texas A&M-Kingsville, helped the Javelinas start the season 4-0 by rattling off double-digit kills in every match and piling up a team-high 60.5 points. In TAMUK's first match of the year against Western Colorado, Jackson recorded her second career double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs to go with six total blocks and in her team's second match, she led the Javs with 15 smashes and hit .357 in a sweep of Northwestern Oklahoma State. On Saturday, she added 10 more kills and five rejections to her stat line as the Javelinas dropped East Central before firing off 12 more finishers and a pair of aces in a triumph over Anderson. For the week, Jackson totaled 48 kills with a .266 hitting percentage.
   Morgan Demuth, Oklahoma Christian, led an Oklahoma Christian squad loaded with freshmen to a split of its four matches on the opening weekend of the season, including a two-match sweep of the defending Northeast-10 Conference champion, Bentley (Mass.). She posted an attack percentage of .470 in 3-1 and 3-0 wins over Bentley and a 3-2 loss to St. Mary’s and a 3-0 loss to Lubbock Christian. She accounted for a team-high 48.5 points, including 41 kills and 13 block assists, in the four matches. Demuth had 11 kills in the first win over Bentley and a career-high 16 kills to go with six block assists and seven digs in the five-set thriller against St. Mary’s, in which the Eagles rallied from a two-set deficit and held a match point before falling. She led the Eagles with nine kills and added four block assists on Saturday in the three-set sweep of Bentley. She had a .571 attack percentage during that match.
   Gabi Sandoval, St. Mary’s, after sitting out last season, returned to the lineup in a big way, garnering a career-high with 25 digs in the team's five set win over Lubbock Christian. She backed that up with a 22-dig performance in a four-set win against Bentley and 24 digs in the five-set thriller at Oklahoma Christian. The junior, seeing her first extensive action for the Gold & Blue also had 74 serve receptions with just one error. In the third set against Oklahoma Christian trailing 3-2, Sandoval stepped to the line and served five aces in six points to put the Rattlers up 8-3. She averaged 0.64 aces per set, as well as 1.29 assists and 5.07 digs per set.
   Chloe Patton, Angelo State, extended streak to 17 games with 10 or more digs; opponents recorded below a .100 attack percentage in seven of 13 sets against the Belles this weekend, with four sets having a negative attack percentage.
   Sarah Konovodoff, St. Edward’s, in her first matches as a Hilltopper, was outstanding defensively, posting 66 digs with just two receiving errors in 65 attempts for a .969 reception percentage.
   Allyssa Hamlin, Oklahoma Christian, posted an impressive .973 reception percentage – with only three errors in 113 chances – as an Oklahoma Christian squad loaded with freshmen split of its four matches on the opening weekend of the season, including a two-match sweep of the defending Northeast-10 Conference champion, Bentley (Mass.). She had 18 digs to go with five kills in a four-set win over Bentley and 13 digs and nine kills in a 3-0 loss to Lubbock Christian on Friday. The next day, she posted career highs for digs (25) and kills (17) in a five-set loss to St. Mary’s, in which the Eagles rallied from a two-set deficit and held a match point before falling. She finished with a fourth straight double-digit digs performance with 14 in a three-set sweep of Bentley.
   Chandler Vogel, West Texas A&M, returned to the court for the Lady Buffs totaling 64 digs in opening weekend play.  Vogel registered 29 digs in WT's 3-1 victory over UAFS, leading WT to their largest set-win margin since 2016 with a 25-7 second set victory. The Hereford product moved to third in the program's all-time career digs list with 2,190.
   Kailey Estrada, Texas A&M-Kingsville, no one on the Javelina roster had more total blocks than her 15 and she also racked up 35 kills with a team-best .333 hitting percentage. On the season's first day, she picked up 12 total kills and five rejections to help the Javs to wins over Western Colorado and Northwestern Oklahoma State. Estrada started her Saturday by notching six total rejections and 10 more kills to lead to TAMUK to its third straight win, then hit .571 in a four-set victory over Anderson with 13 smashes and another four denials. Estrada's efforts helped her team hold the opposition to a .158 hitting percentage and begin the year 4-0 for a third straight season.
   Sage Chain, Lubbock Christian, had conference-leading block totals to help lead LCU to a 2-1 record at Eagle Invitational hosted by Oklahoma Christian. She posted 14 kills in three matches (11 sets) for a conference-leading 1.27 blocks per set. Her top performance was a six-block performance in LCU's 3-0 road win over Oklahoma Christian. On the offensive side, Chain had 23 kills (2.09 per set), co-leading the squad in their win over Oklahoma Christian with 10 kills (same match she had six blocks).
   Emily Tran, St. Edward’s, ran the offense perfectly, guiding the Hilltoppers to a 4-0 opening weekend. She averaged nearly 12 assists per set while SEU hit .234.
   Chloe Price, UAFS, was named to the All-Tournament team of the BritKare Lady Buff Classic after leading UAFS to a 3-1 record, averaging 8.71 assists per set. In her first game as a Lady Lion, Price nearly recorded a triple-double, tallying 35 assists, 12 digs, seven kills and four blocks. In a win against Adams State, she recorded another double-double with 45 assists and 11 digs to go with seven aces.
   Analise Lucio, UT Permian Basin, picked up right where she left off in the spring with 126 assists over the first four contests, putter her fifth in the LSC.  Lucio started the season with a 45-assist performance as the Falcons won their season opener.  The Falcons finished the opening weekend eighth in the LSC in hitting percentage.  Lucio is closing in now on 2,000 assists for her illustrious Falcon career.
   Emily Witt, Texas A&M-Kingsville, led the Javelinas in assists in every match and also notched three double-doubles during a 4-0 opening weekend for her squad. She started the week by handing out 43 helpers with 11 digs and three blocks in a win over Western Colorado, then she passed out 25 assists with 10 digs as the Javs swept Northwestern Oklahoma State. In TAMUK's third match, her 29-assist, 11-dig performance helped the Javelinas defeat East Central and she capped the week by recording 38 helpers in a four-set victory over Anderson.
   Callie Craus, UT Tyler, was the catalyst for a UT Tyler offense that hit .257 for the weekend and led the Lone Star Conference with an average of 16.43 kills per set. Craus averaged 8.21 assists per set and finished the weekend with 115 total assists. #20 UT Tyler went 4-0 on opening weekend including a pair of sweeps over Southern Nazarene and Emporia State, thanks in large part to an unrelenting offensive attack. Craus was vital to that offensive output, and also chipped in 24 digs throughout the weekend.
   Spencer Plato, Oklahoma Christian, averaged 8.07 assists per set as an Oklahoma Christian squad loaded with freshmen split of its four matches on the opening weekend of the season, including a two-match sweep of the defending Northeast-10 Conference champion, Bentley (Mass.). She opened the weekend with a career-high 37 assists, 10 digs, six kills, two aces and five blocks in a four-set win over Bentley. In a five-set loss to St. Mary’s, she posted another double-double with 34 points and 11 digs to go with three aces.
   Jalee Sims, Lubbock Christian, led the team with 6.55 assists per set. Her top performance came in a 3-2 loss to St. Mary's as she had 39 assists, 21 digs and eight kills for a double-double (was two kills away from recording LCU's first triple-double since 1990).  LCU went 2-1 at Eagle Invitational (hosted by Oklahoma Christian) and hit .226 as a team, which was highlighted by a .300 mark in a 3-0 win over Bentley for their first .300 (or better) performance since Oct. 25, 2018.
   Blair Moreland, West Texas A&M, made her collegiate debut for the Maroon and White with WT going 4-0 in opening weekend play at the BritKare Lady Buff Classic.  She recorded a season-high 20 assists twice including the Lady Buffs sweep over Fort Lewis.