Match Notes
 
CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M has their final warmup before conference play this weekend as the No. 13 Lady Buffs compete in the Lone Star Conference Crossover on Sept. 8-10.  The crossover round-robin will take place on the campus of Angelo State at the Junell Center in San Angelo, Texas. 
 
The crossover tournament will feature the top four programs from the 2021 standings. WT will take on Angelo State at 6 p.m. on the opening day before facing Lubbock Christian at 3 p.m. on Friday.  The Lady Buffs wrap up the weekend on Saturday at noon against the Patriots of UT Tyler. 
 
LIVE COVERAGE
A live stream and stats will be provided by the Angelo State Athletic Communications department.  The preseason round-robin will be aired on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network.  Fans will be able to purchase a $10 daily pass that will give them access to all contests on the network that day as well as access to previously aired games from the current season for 24 hours. 
 
Fans can also purchase a $50 volleyball season pass that will give them access to all Lone Star Conference volleyball matches.  In addition to live and archived streaming options, viewers will have the option to purchase and download games from the 2021 season for $10 each.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Angelo State (Sept. 8 / 6 p.m.)
The Rambelles led off the season 3-6 led by 15^th-year head coach Chuck Waddington who has guided the Belles to 10-straight NCAA Tournaments including a run in the Elite Eight. 
 
WT and ASU meet on the court for the 88^th time with the Lady Buffs leading the all-time series 59-28 including a 21-15 record in San Angelo.  In their last meeting, WT fell 3-0 at the Junell Center in regular-season action.  
 
Hannah Kinnison leads the way with 80 kills on 216 swings with 39 attack errors to hit .190, averaging 2.76 kills per set. Laney Daleguide guides the offense with 179 assists (5.77/set).  Caleigh Enax leads the back row with 6128 digs to average 4.0 per frame while Grace White has 30.0 blocks. 
 
Lubbock Christian (Sept. 9 / 3 p.m.)
Keith Giboney is in his second season at the helm of LCU volleyball as he led the program to a 20-8 overall record in his first season with the Lady Chaps.  LCU is off to a 4-4 start after going 3-1 at the Chap Classic last weekend.  
 
Friday marks the 41^st meeting between the teams with WT leading the series 31-8-1.  LCU defeated the Lady Buffs in a five set thriller during the 2021 season. 
 
Lily Bickley and Sage Chain lead the Lady Chaps combing for 143 killsand 180.5 points.  Sophomore Kayton Genenbacher ranks second in the LSC with 306 total assists (10.55/set) and has a team-high 13 service aces. On defense, Kendall Mahaney has collected 137 digs (4.72/set) while Sage Chain has 38.0 blocks which is the second most in the league. 
 
UT Tyler (Sept. 10 / Noon)
The Patriots have led off the season 4-4 with a current two-game win streak.  UTT is led by seventh-year head coach Lyndsay Mashe who has led the program to rise as a top contender.  
 
The all-time series is tied 2-2 with WT coming off a 3-1 victory at the NCAA South Central Regional Semifinals in Denver.  
 
Mikayla Ware leads with 121 kills on 362 swings with 52 attack errors to hit .191, averaging 4.48 kills per set. Adeline Ortman has guided the Patriots offense with 193 assists and a team-high eight service aces.  Savannah Guzman leads with 98 digs to average 3.63 per frame while Dakota Rogers-Hurtado has totaled 24.0 blocks. 
 
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Following their performances at the stacked Colorado Premier Classic, Torrey Miller was named the LSC Offensive Player of the Week while Taytum Stow was named the Defensive Player of the Week. The pair were two of just 13 student-athletes to earn All-Tournament honors at the elite tournament. Miller finished fifth overall in kills per set (3.60) while Stow was third in blocks per set (1.40).
 
Stow now leads the conference in hitting percentage (.395) and ranks third overall in total blocks (35) and blocks per set (1.30).  Miller sits seventh in kills per set (3.62) and eighth in total kills (105)
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Lady Buffs went 2-2 at the stacked Colorado Premier Classic in Denver last weekend to move to 5-3 on the season.  WT defeated Regis and No. 11 Central Missouri to win their pool and earn the No. 1 seed where they went on to face No. 15 Wayne State and No. 4 MSU Denver.  The Lady Buffs fell to the Roadrunners, 3-0, to place fourth overall. 
 
WT competed at the CPC for the 16^th time in program history with an all-time tournament record of 36-28 with three championship titles.  The Lady Buffs won the 2012 Colorado Premier Challenge 3-0 against Tampa. 
 
AROUND THE LONE STAR 
Three schools stand atop the conference standings with an overall 6-2 record with DBU, Oklahoma Christian and Texas A&M International while the Patriots are on a four-game win streak.  Eastern New Mexico stands fourth followed by Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas Woman's, UAFS, and WT all tied fifth at 5-3. 
 
IN THE POLLS
Tampa remained atop of the national standings for the third consecutive week, receiving 40 of the possible 47 first-place votes.  Washburn stayed second while Concordia-St. Paul jumped to third followed by MSU Denver and Wayne State (5-fpv).  WT is the only member from the Lone Star Conference presented in the Top 25 standing 13^th while Angelo State is receiving votes. 
 
WT HEAD COACH KENDRA POTTS
Kendra Potts begins her fourth season as the helm of Lady Buff Volleyball with an overall 63-19 (.759) record and 37-10 (.787) in league play.  Potts led her alma mater to the program's 14^th NCAA Elite Eight Appearance after capturing the South Central Regional title to become the sixth head coach in program history to guide WT to the Elite Eight. 
 
HOME DOMINANCE
WT houses one of the best home environments in the country across all of NCAA volleyball.  The WTAMU Fieldhouse, best known as "The Box" is home to 20 Lone Star Conference Championships, 14 regional titles and three NCAA Division II National Championships.  At "The Box", the Lady Buffs are 511-83 since 1980 for an incredible winning percentage of 86.1% and 90.4% during conference play. 
 
BRITKARE COURT
WT Athletics proudly announced a new state-of-the-art court for the historic home of Lady Buff Volleyball thanks to a generous gift from BritKare Home Medical that highlighted the 2021 season.   ­BritKare Court at The Box features a top-line Taraflex court surface that is widely used in Division I arenas, professional volleyball and was most recently featured at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.  
 
UP NEXT
WT will start off conference play next weekend with matches against DBU and UT Tyler at The Box in Canyon on Sept. 16-17.  The Lady Buffs will face DBU at 5 p.m. on Friday night before taking on UT Tyler on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. 
 
FOLLOW THE LADY BUFFS
Fans can follow and stay up to date on all the Lady Buff action on online and on social media.  Follow the Lady Buffs on Twitter (@WTVolleyball), Instagram (@ladybuffvolleyball), Facebook (@WTVolleyball) and now Tik Tok (@WestTexasAMVB).