SAN ANGELO – The No. 13 Angelo State volleyball team opens a four match home stand and Lone Star Conference play at 7 p.m. on Friday against Cameron University at the Junell Center.

The Belles (6-2, 0-0 LSC), who went 17-3 last season in conference action and 13-1 at home, will follow their match against Cameron with a 2 p.m. match against Midwestern State on Saturday before hosting Tarleton State (7 p.m., Tuesday) and McMurry (7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 20).

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ASU is coming off splitting its four matches at the Colorado Premiere Challenge where it went 2-1 against top-25 opponents. The Belles knocked off No. 11 Cal State San Bernadino and No. 17 Lewis University. ASU comes into the weekend with a .226 hitting percentage and is limiting opponents to a .114 mark. Shelbi Goode has compiled 106 kills which ranks second in the conference, while Alex Woolsey leads the LSC with 11.42 assists per game. Shelby Wilt has 4.63 digs per set with Emily Booth (.370) and Katie Coleman (.333) third and fourth, respectively, in LSC hitting percentage. Maddie Huth is fifth in the conference with 24 blocks.

“We have to do a better job of handling the ball,” ASU head coach Chuck Waddington said. “When we are challenged we have to maintain our composure. I think we got a little stressed and you regress under stress. We are working in practice to create more stressful situations so that our team is better prepared to respond to that.”

Cameron, which went 15-15 (9-11 LSC) last season is 4-4 this season. The Aggies have also played their first eight matches on the road, traveling to play in the Drury University and Colorado State-Pueblo tournaments. CU, which has a .158 hitting percentage compared to a .173 for its opponents, has picked up its wins over Kentucky Wesleyan, Newman, Wayland Baptist and CSU-Pueblo.

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Midwestern State (2-6, 0-0) will play Tarleton State on Friday night before playing the Belles on Saturday. MSU, which played at the Hilltopper/Rattler Classic with the Belles, is 1-4 against common opponents. The Mustangs picked up a win over Southeastern Oklahoma at the tournament but lost to St. Mary's, St. Edward's and Southwestern Oklahoma before traveling to Colorado Springs last weekend for the UCCS Invitational.

“Every single team in our conference has a chance to win. We are at the same level as everyone else. We have to approach it that way and come in and compete with goals in mind. It's a little cliché, but everyone is 0-0 in our conference right now. We have to prepare and protect our house and get two wins this weekend.”
 
What to watch for:
Alex Woolsey needs only 35 assists to surpass 4,000 for her career and is 10 digs away from 1,000… Chelsea Gibson enters this weekend with 979 kills and 279 digs for her career… Chuck Waddington is at 95 wins as the head coach of Angelo State…  ASU comes into the weekend with 779 wins as a program.
 

No. 13 Angelo State Belles *20-11 all-time against Cameron; 23-9 all-time against Midwestern State Leaders Kills: Shelbi Goode (106), Kaelen Valdez (74), Chelsea Gibson (54) Assists: Alex Woolsey (274), Shelby Wilt (45) Blocks: Maddie Huth (24), Shelbi Goode (18) Digs: Shelby Wilt (125), Kaelen Valdez (91), Alex Woolsey (80)

 

Cameron Aggies (4-4, 0-0 LSC) *11-20 all-time against ASU Leaders Kills: Rebecca Green (95), Kathryn Evans (94), Shannon Dulaney (94) Assists: Jenna Risoli (290) Blocks: Annelise Carpenter (24) Digs: Jenna Risoli (64), Mariah Westlake (64)

 

Midwestern State Mustangs (2-6, 0-0 LSC) *9-23 all-time against ASU Leaders Kills: Shelbi Stewart (85) Assists: Kristan Aduddell (197) Blocks: Caitlin Wallace (18) Digs: Taylor Parker (78)