CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M Volleyball continues Lone Star Conference divisional action this week as they make the trip to San Angelo, Texas to face off with the #15 Belles of Angelo State on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Junell Center with first serve set for 7 p.m. on both nights.
 
ANGELO STATE
The #15 Belles enter the week with a perfect 2-0 record following a pair of straight set victories over UT Permian Basin last week in Odessa. ASU registered 80 kills on 265 swings with a team attack percentage of .196 over the two wins with 71 assists, nine service aces, 102 digs and nine total blocks. 
 
Chuck Waddington is now in his 13th season at the helm of the Angelo State volleyball program, holding an overall record of 304-104 during his time in San Angelo with nine straight Regional Tournament appearances and three Lone Star Conference Titles.
 
LSC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Kailyn Gilbreath leads the way offensively for the Belles as the junior from Fort Worth has registered 24 kills on 66 swings with four attack errors to hit .303 on the season. The 24 total kills ranks fourth in the Lone Star Conference.
 
LSC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE - Evelyn Torres, UT Tyler
Torres produced an outstanding .375 hitting percentage and a team-high 29 kills to lead UT Tyler to a pair of victories over DBU.  She recorded 15 kills on Tuesday, followed by 14 in Wednesday's win. Torres also contributed 33 service receptions without an error.
 
DEFENSIVE - Mikayla Ware, UT Tyler
Ware produced a team-high 48 serve receptions without an error, as UT Tyler surrendered just 2 service aces across 7 sets in a pair of victories over DBU. She also registered 24 digs (3.43 per set) with 14 in Tuesday's match with 17 kills, and 10 on Wednesday.
 
SETTER - Taylor Stoops, UT Tyler
Stoops helped lead a UT Tyler offense which converted at a .281 attack percentage over two matches against DBU, producing a team-high 50 assists for the week.  She posted 28 helpers on Tuesday, with 22 in Wednesday's sweep. Stoops added 1 service ace and 3 digs.
 
THE SERIES
The Lady Buffs lead the all-time series against Angelo State, 57-25 with the Belles taking the last five meetings. WT is 21-12 all-time in San Angelo, dropping their last five matches on the road to ASU.
 
THE LAST MEETING
WT made some noise in the opening frame of the 2019 NCAA Division II South Central Regional Quarterfinals before falling to the rival #12 Angelo State Belles in four-sets (25-22, 14-25, 19-25, 20-25) at the Regis Fieldhouse in Denver.
 
Torrey Miller led the Lady Buffs with 16 kills on 41 swings with nine attack errors to hit .171 followed by Selena Batiste who capped off a great career in Maroon & White with 13 kills on 27 swings with five attack errors to hit .296 on the afternoon while registering 17 digs for the double-double, Gabby Emery paced the WT offense with a match-high 35 assists while Miller and Chandler Vogel led the way defensively with 18 digs each for the pair of All-Region honorees. WT finished the afternoon with 50 kills on 146 attempts with 23 attack errors to hit .185 as a team with 46 assists, two aces, 68 digs and eight blocks.
 
WELCOME TO THE BOX
West Texas A&M is fortunate to have one of the best home environments in all of NCAA Volleyball. The WTAMU Fieldhouse is more affectionately known as "The Box," is home to 19 Lone Star Conference Championships, 13 Regional Titles and three NCAA Division II National Championships. 
 
The Box boasts one of the best home winning records in the NCAA on any level of competition. The Lady Buffs are 490-82 at The Box since the 1980 season for an incredible winning percentage of 85.6%.
 
LONE STAR CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL
Angelo State claimed 37 of the possible 40 first place votes for a total of 637 points to sit atop of the preseason poll followed by Texas A&M-Commerce (558) and Arkansas-Fort Smith (one first place, 546) to round out the top three. 
 
WT claimed 544 total points to sit fourth followed by St. Edward's (one first place, 442), Texas Woman's (427), UT Permian Basin (one first place, 396), Texas A&M-Kingsville (345), Lubbock Christian (338), Dallas Baptist (314), St. Mary's (209), Midwestern State (204), UT Tyler (196), Texas A&M International (125), Cameron (96) and Oklahoma Christian (63).
 
WT HEAD COACH KENDRA POTTS
Kendra Potts led her alma mater to the South Central Regional Quarterfinals during her first season at the helm in 2019 to become just the fourth head coach in program history to guide WT to the NCAA Tournament during their first season.
 
Potts spent four seasons as an assistant in Canyon from 2005-2008 where the Lady Buffs went 131-27 during that span with a pair of appearances in the NCAA Division II National Semifinals. WT went an incredible 43-2 in league action during her four seasons on the sideline with three undefeated Lone Star Conference Championships and three LSC Tournament titles.
 
The Amarillo High product registered a standout collegiate career for the Lady Buffs, becoming a three time All-American and the LSC's all-time assists leader with 6,087. The 2014 WTAMU Hall of Champions inductee was named to the Lone Star Conference 75th Anniversary Team. During her four year career in Maroon & White, the Lady Buffs went 129-16 overall including 39-1 in league action with four NCAA Tournament Appearances and a pair of Regional Championships (2000, 2003).
 
STAPLE IN THE BACK ROW
Two-time reigning Lone Star Conference Libero of the Year Chandler Vogel has registered 1,859 career digs as the Hereford High School product sits sixth on the, she is just three digs shy of passing former All-American Shannon Stroud (1999-02) for fifth all-time. Vogel is on pace to challenge Lauren Beville's (2009-12) all-time career mark of 2,423. Vogel has seen time in 363 sets for the Lady Buffs over the last three seasons in Canyon as she has started 100 matches in the back row over that span.
 
THE LONE STAR CONFERENCE
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 30.
 
LSC DIGITAL NETWORK
Fans will be able to purchase a $10 daily pass that will give them access to all football, volleyball and basketball contests on the network that day as well as access to previously aired games from the current season for 24 hours. In addition to live and archived streaming options, viewers will have the option to purchase and download games from the 2020-21 season for $10 each.
 
Fans can watch games and purchase passes online at www.lonestarconferencenetwork.com on computer and mobile devices. Viewers can also tune in to games on the LSC Digital Network via OTT apps available on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Roku by searching for "LSC Digital Network".