Date	Time	Opponent	Location	Venue	Links
Wednesday, October 9	6:00 p.m.	Oklahoma Christian	Edmond, Oklahoma	Payne Athletic Center	Stats | FloSports | Match Notes

CANYON, Texas – The #9 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M hit the road for Lone Star Conference action on Wednesday night as they travel to Edmond, Oklahoma to take on the Oklahoma Christian Eagles with first serve set for 6:00 p.m. at the Payne Athletic Center.
 
STORYLINES

• For the first time since the 2019 season, the Lady Buffs are under the guidance of a new head coach as Brittany Harry was named the 16th leader of WT Volleyball on March 19, 2024.
• West Texas A&M continues the defense of their Lone Star Conference Championships this week as they travel to Oklahoma Christian on Wednesday evening followed by a short drive to Portales on Saturday afternoon to battle rival Eastern New Mexico.
• The Lady Buffs sit ninth in the newest edition of the AVCA/TERAFLEX Division II Top-25 Poll announced on Monday afternoon
• The first five weekends of the season have seen the Lady Buffs battle nine Top-25 opponents with a pair of them ranking inside of the Top-5
• The Lady Buffs have registered an attack percentage of .256 so far this season which ranks 19th in all of Division II Volleyball. Junior Taytum Stow is 22nd nationally with 67 total blocks while Bryli Contreras ranks 80th with 232 digs
• The Lady Buffs begin a four-match road trip on Wednesday night in Edmond to take on Oklahoma Christian followed by drives to Portales (Eastern New Mexico), Dallas (DBU) and Tyler (UT Tyler) before returning to The Box on October 25th against St. Edward's
• Junior middle blocker Taytum Stow was named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday afternoon. The Hereford product had 19 kills on 34 attempts with just four attack errors to hit .441 on the weekend with 12 total blocks for an average of 2.00 per set. 
• The Lady Buffs lead the Lone Star Conference in attack percentage (.256) while sitting second in the league in blocks per set (2.22)

OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN
The Eagles enter Wednesday night with an overall record of 9-6 with a 1-3 mark in Lone Star Conference play. The opening week of league action saw OC fall on the road to UT Tyler (3-0) and then No. 23 DBU (3-0), last weekend saw the Eagles drop a three-set match at St. Mary's before bouncing back with a five-set win at St. Edward's on Saturday afternoon.
 
Oklahoma Christian finished the 2023 campaign with an overall record of 14-15 including a 6-10 mark in LSC play. The Eagles went 5-3 inside of the Payne Athletic Center. 
 
Asa Freeman is now in his first full-time season at the helm of the Oklahoma Christian volleyball program after serving as OC's interim head coach for the final 18 matches of the 2023 campaign. Freeman also serves as the Vice President of the Kaizen Volleyball Club, leading the team to a National Championship in 2017.
 
Wednesday night marks the fifth all-time meeting on the court between the Lady Buffs and Oklahoma Christian with WT holding a 4-0 lead in the series that dates back to 2021. The Lady Buffs are 1-0 all-time in Edmond with their only trip coming on October 15, 2022, a sweep over the Eagles. 
 
The last meeting between the two teams came on October 21st of last season in Canyon, the Lady Buffs registered a .261 attack percentage with six service aces and 71 digs on their way to a straight-set victory over OC. Emma Becker led the way for WT with 13 kills followed by Taytym Stow with 12 to go along with four blocks, Ainsley Malis dished out a match-high 33 assists while Bryli Contreras finished the night with 26 digs and a pair of service aces.
 
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 21 Lone Star Conference Championships, 16 Regional Titles and four 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 544-84 at The Box since the 1980 season for an incredible winning percentage of 86.7%.
 
LONE STAR CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL
The Lady Buffs claimed 23 of the possible 41 first place votes to sit atop of the poll with 674 points followed by DBU (15 first place, 665), Angelo State (two first place, 610), Texas A&M-Kingsville (one first place, 562), UT Tyler (536), Texas Woman's (481), Lubbock Christian (430), Texas A&M International (418), St. Mary's (349), UT Permian Basin (349), Oklahoma Christian (299), St. Edward's (249), Cameron (168), Eastern New Mexico (158), Western New Mexico (140), Midwestern State (130) and Sul Ross State (55).
 
LSC PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Junior middle blocker Taytum Stow was named the 2024 Lone Star Conference Preseason Defensive Player of the Year announced on Monday, August 25th. The Hereford product Led the Lady Buffs to the Division II National Title Match in 2023, appearing in 133 sets during 37 matches. She averaged 1.68 kills per set and had a total of 223 kills for the season, earning a .334 hitting percentage.  Stow was named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American for the second time in her career.
 
A NEW ERA BEGINS
For the first time since the 2019 season, the Lady Buffs are under the guidance of a new head coach as Brittany Harry was named the 16th leader of WT Volleyball on March 19, 2024.
 
Harry, the 2022 Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year, has been the head coach at Texas A&M International for the past four seasons, serving as the architect behind the growth of the TAMIU program. In 2022, Harry set a program record with 23 victories to lead the Dustdevils into the Lone Star Conference postseason for the second time in school history. She led her team to the best turnaround in all of NCAA Division II volleyball with a +18 win differential from 2021 to 2022.
 
LADY BUFFS IN THE AVCA POLL
The Lady Buffs are ranked ninth in this week's edition of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Top-25 Poll. It marks the 307th time since 1986 that the Lady Buffs appear in the poll, the sixth most in Division II history. WT has sat atop of the poll 28 different times including twice during the 2023 campaign.
 
NEW LOOK LSC
The LSC opens its 42nd season of volleyball with a new member among the 17 teams – Sul Ross State – with schedules opening the September 5-7 weekend. The Lone Star Conference Tournament is slated November 21-23 hosted by the No. 1 seeded team. NCAA Division II Championship play begins with regionals December 5-8 and the final rounds December 12-14 in Sioux Falls, S.D.