SAN ANGELO – The No. 13 Angelo State volleyball team swept its way through the first round of the Lone Star Conference Tournament as it eliminated Midwestern State (25-16, 25-16, 25-16) on Thursday night in the Stephen Arena at the Junell Center.

With the win the Belles, which improved to 29-3 overall, will advance to face Eastern New Mexico in the semifinal round Friday night at 7 p.m.  The ASU attack turned in a solid .316 clip for the night, while the defense out blocked the Mustangs 3-0 and held them to a .117 hitting percentage for the match. MSU caps its season with a 12-21 overall record with Thursday's loss.

"You know, the scores were similar in all three sets, but I thought we played at a much higher level in the second and third sets," commented ASU Head Volleyball Coach Chuck Waddington. "Brianna [Sotello], Mallory [Blauser] and Abbie [Lynn] were all very effective for us at the pins tonight. We had really good ball distribution, dug a bunch of balls and took some good swings in transition. Those three are important for us in the postseason, so we're going to need them to keep it up."

Brianna Sotello led the way for the Belles in its tournament opener. The junior outside hitter racked up her 11th double-double for the season with an 11 kill and 17 dig showing. This allowed her to mark a .346 clip for the night on the offensive side of the ball. Her double-figure digs marked a team high for the match.  She also headed the defense along the net with three monster blocks, with two of those being solo.  

Leading the offensive attack was Mallory Blauser and Abbie Lynn. Her team leading 14 kills marked her 11^th consecutive match with double figure kills. The senior also dropped in an ace for the night. Lynn fired in eight kills recording an outstanding .400 clip against the Mustangs.  She capped the night by adding five digs to her defensive numbers.

Defensive specialist Micheala Sifuentes and Libero Mallory Davidson topped the defense for the Belles. Sifuentes inked a team second 12 digs for the night, while Davidson added 10 of her own. Davidson has now recorded 15 straight matches with double-digit digs.

Continue to set up the team's attack. Meghan Parker topped the 1,200 career assist plateau with 37 digs for the Belles on Thursday night. The freshman now sits at 1202 for the season. She also tallied six digs and an ace for the night.

Also aiding ASU in the win was Tulani Titley. The Houston native recorded six kills for a team leading .455 clip on the night. She aided the defense with a block assist and a pair of digs.

The two teams started the match exchanging points, until with an 807 lead a Mustang service error followed by two Blauser kills jump started a 6-1 Belles run. This gave the team the push it needed to pull away from MSU. Leading 20-15, Sotello Blauser and Titley strung together the next five of six points with kills to give the Belles a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Mustangs got things started in the second set placing the first point on the board. However, the Belles would quickly answer, and with the score tied at three Morgan Seaton kill would push the Belles hard for the final time of the set. Ahead 19-15, Sotello would fire in a pair of kills to set ASU off on a 7-1 run that would close out the set.

MSU would come out firing in the final set taking a 7-4 lead, but the Belles would climb back in the driver's seat with kills from Sotello, Titley, Lynn, Seaton and Blauser.  Again, leading 18-14 the Belles would put the Mustangs away with a closing 7-2 run that would be completed by a Parker ace.

After falling in five set on the road to Eastern New Mexico in the final weekend of regular season play, Angelo State will be seeking to return the favor when they take on the Greyhounds in the semifinals of the LSC tournament. The Belles lead this year's series between the two teams 2-1 and last faced ENMU in the post season during the opening round of the 2014 LSC Tournament which resulted in a 3-1 Belle victory.   

"After a tough road trip last weekend it was nice to be in front of the home fans," added Waddington. "I hope they can come out again tomorrow for the match at 7:30 and we can get a little payback against the team that beat us last weekend."