SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State women's volleyball team opened the season at the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational at Stephens Arena inside the Junell Center with a pair of sweeps over UTPB (25-21, 25-8, 25-9)) and Chadron State (25-21, 25-18, 25-21).

"I felt like we played a lot cleaner in the second match," ASU head volleyball coach Chuck Waddington said. "I think our first match we were a little tentative. It was the first match of the year and we tried to do things that weren't comfortable for us. Once we got in a groove and as we got into the evening match I feel like we executed pretty well for the second match of the year. There are a lot of things we can clean up with our blocking and our defense moving forward."

The Belles (2-0) hit .287 in the first match and improved in the night cap with a .358 hitting percentage. Brianna Sotello, Mallory Blauser and Abbie Lynn led the attack combining for 26 kills against UTPB and 40 versus Chadron State.

In the night cap against Chadron State, Sotello recorded a double-double with a team-high 16 kills and 15 digs. The sophomore was efficient on the offensive attack with a career high .542 hitting percentage.

Blauser added 13 kills while Lynn connected with 11 kills against Chadron State. Katie MacLeay recorded 13 digs and Maggie Jo Keffury distributed 46 assists.

The first set was all ASU hitting .500 as a team and Sotello providing seven of her 16 kills with a .875 hitting percentage. The Belles used a 17-5 run to start the first set to take control.

The second set started a similar plan. A kill by Sotello made it 15-5 but Chadron State (0-2) battled back. The Eagles went on a run of six straight points to pull within 18-12 before a kill from Blauser got ASU back on track. Lynn hit .625 in the second set with five kills

The final set was a battle. No team built an advantage of more than three points until the final tally of 25-21. Chadron State took a 9-8 advantage but back-to-back kills from Sotello gave the Belles a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

The Belles season opener started a little slow. UTPB took a 18-17 advantage on a Annelise Sanchez kill but Lynn tied it and a service ace by Kelly Hasbrouck two plays later extended the lead to 20-18. ASU recorded eight aces during the match.

Blauser paced ASU in set two with four kills with a .571 clip. ASU was able to limit UTPB to just eight points putting together runs of seven and eight in the middle of match to build a 17 point lead.

Keffury racked up 33 assists and an ace of her own in the season debut.  Katie MacLeay checked in with 11 digs and freshman Micheala Sifuentes had nine digs and three aces.

Angelo State will finish out the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational tomorrow with matches against Western New Mexico (12 p.m.) and Newman University (6 p.m.) at Stephens Arena at the Junell Center.