SAN ANGELO – The 11^th-ranked Angelo State volleyball team returns to action this weekend to play a pair of Lone Star Conference road matches against Midwestern State and Cameron.

The Belles (16-3, 9-1 LSC) are 3-1 this season in LSC road matches and bring in a three-match winning streak after earning wins over Tarleton State, Texas Woman's and Texas A&M-Commerce last week. ASU opens the weekend with a rare 4 p.m. match on Friday at Midwestern State (4-15, 2-7 LSC) before crossing the Red River to play Cameron (7-13, 2-7 LSC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

No. 11 Angelo State Belles *21-11 all-time against Cameron; 24-9 all-time against MSU Leaders Kills: Shelbi Goode (252), Kaelen Valdez (159), Maddie Huth (151), Chelsea Gibson (144) Assists: Alex Woolsey (748) Blocks: Maddie Huth (59), Shelbi Goode (34), Chelsea Gibson (31) Digs: Shelby Wilt (319), Kaelen Valdez (232), Alex Woolsey (185)

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“It's always more difficult to play someone at their home rather than our,” said Alex Woolsey, who was named the LSC's Setter of the Week for the third time this season on Tuesday. “Midwestern has a particularly difficult gym to play in. The lighting in their gym is pretty hard to see the ball some time. We are going in confident, but we can't be over confident. We have to do what we do.”

ASU, which has won 11 of its last 12 matches, comes into the weekend first in the LSC in assists (13.80 per set), kills (14.45 per set), digs (19.79 per) and are second in hitting percentage (.243) and opponent hitting percentage (.117). Shelby Wilt, this week's LSC Defensive Player of the Week, leads the conference with 319 digs (4.91 per set) with Woolsey topping the conference in assists with 11.87 per set. Shelby Goode is tops in kills with 3.94 per set (252 total) while Maddie Huth is fifth in blocks (59) and hitting percentage (.330). Huth earned the LSC's Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday for her efforts last week that included two matches with a hitting percentage of .500.

“We had an opportunity to practice this week without a midweek match and I think that really helped us,” ASU head coach Chuck Waddington said. “This has been a good week in terms of preparing and getting better as a team. I feel like we are really playing at a high and consistent level. We are getting better each week and are working hard to be great at the end of the year.”

The Belles are 24-9 all-time against Midwestern State, including a sweep of the Mustangs on Sept. 15 at the Junell Center. Chelsea Gibson lead ASU with 10 kills with Wilt adding 14 digs in the first meeting. MSU comes into this weekend with a .154 hitting percentage while opponents are hitting .234 against them.

“They have some really nice players that cause you to pay close attention to them,” Waddington said. “They have a middle and left-side that are really terminal and put the ball away almost every time that they get the ball. We have to know where they are at all times. They also have some crafty setters who can score. We have to be prepared for that.

“Playing a 4 o'clock match on a Friday is different for us so we have to remain mentally prepared and be ready to play as soon as we get off the bus,” Waddington added. “It's always a challenge playing on the road and I think that our team is prepared to handle changes and not let where or when we're playing affect us.”

ASU plays at Cameron on Saturday and brings in a 21-11 all-time advantage over the Aggies, including a sweep on Sept. 13 which opened LSC play for both teams. Kathryn Evans led CU with 11 kills and five digs in the match, while Gibson and Huth had 10 and nine kills, respectively. Cameron has a .152 hitting percentage this year with opponents hitting at a .186 percentage.

“Cameron is athletic with a lefty setter that does a good job of throwing the ball around,” Waddington said. “They have some good outside hitters that are going to force us to protect the pins.”

After this weekend the Belles will return home for a four-match stand at the Junell Center which begins on Friday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. against Abilene Christian.
 
Milestone watch: Woolsey enters the weekend with 4,439 assists in her career and is only 347 away from Amber Nelson's all-time record at ASU… Woolsey has 748 assists this season and needs to average 34.7 assists per match to surpass the record by the end of the regular season… Katie Coleman is only five kills away from 400 in her career… Wilt has 904 digs in her two-year career and on pace to surpass 1,000 digs in the next couple of weeks… Kaelen Valdez has 232 digs this season and is only 73 from 1,000 in her career.