COMMERCE, Texas - No. 5 Angelo State volleyball fell to Texas A&M - Commerce (25-14, 20-25, 19-25, 25-20, 13-15) in its Lone Star Conference opening match on Friday night.
With the loss, the Belles drop to an 8-2 overall record and now sit at 0-1 in Lone Star Conference play. The Angelo State offense was held to a season low .191 clip through the five sets, while the ASU defense limited the Lions attack to .181 attacking percentage. The Belles out served the Lions in the match by a pair of aces as they dropped in seven total, to TAMUC's five. TAMUC starts its conference play of 1-0 and also moved to 5-5 on the year with Friday's win.
"We are learning the hard way that every team in our conference is going to give us its best shot," commented ASU head volleyball coach Chuck Waddington. "Tonight was a perfect example of that. Texas A&M - Commerce is a good team. Their crowd was great and it frazzled us. I thought Tulani [Titley] did a nice job for us in the last two sets giving us an offensive spark."
Anna Graham and Brianna Sotello both led the Belles offense with 14 kills each for the match. This marked a season high for Graham in kills. Along with her .400 clip for the night, the sophomore also co-led the defense with four total blocks. Sotello recorded her third double-double of the season as she added 10 digs to her total stats.
Micheala Sifuentes, Sundara Chinn and Morgan Seaton headed the defense in Commerce. Sifuentes notched a career high 27 dig to lead the team in the category. Chinn and Seaton co-led the squad with four total blocks each, while Chinn also inked a team fourth eight kills.
Setting up the Belles, Meghan Parker tallied a team most 39 assists. She also added a pair of service aces and fell just short of recording a double- double as she dug out nine balls to assist the Belles defensive efforts.
Also turning in solid performances were Bailey Drum and Eadara Files. Drum dropped in a team third nine kills. She also led the Belles with a pair of solo blocks with a total of three blocks for the match. Files led ASU from the service line with three aces. To this she also added a team second 11 assists.
The Belles got out to a strong start in the first set as the team embarked on a 6-1 run right out of the starting gate that saw a pair of aces from Parker and one from Sotello. The Lions would attempt to rally cutting the ASU lead to three, 7-4, but a kill from Graham would stop TAMUC. With the score sitting at 10-5, Graham kicked started a second lengthy 9-2 Belles run with another timely kill. She would then return again to drop in the final point giving the set win to ASU.
Despite ASU getting out to another strong lead, 6-3, a 9-1 run from Texas A&M - Commerce would place the Lions into the lead for the first time in the match. TAMUC maintained its lead for the remainder of the set, with the Belles only able to pull to within two at the closest. This tied the match at 1-1.
Carrying its momentum from the previous set, the Lions would score the first point coming out of the break. ASU regained the 3-1 lead with kills from Sotello, Drum and Seaton, however it would be short lived as TAMUC rally back and took a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set, the Lions once again jumped out to an early lead, but the Belles quickly answered and brought the set score back to an even 2-2. Both squads exchanged the lead several times, until with 18-18 on the board, Tulani Titley fired a ball in to place the Belles back in front for the final time. After a ball handling error by TAMUC, Titley would once again add to the ASU lead as she was joined by Chinn for a monstrous block placing the score at 21-18. Drum would tally the final three kill of the set, and the Belles would force a fifth tie-breaker set.
Titley would open the final set with year another kill, however the Lions would swiftly answer with one of their own. The pair of team would again trade blows with Angelo State jumping back out to a 6-3 lead that came via kills from Drum and Chinn, as well as a Lion attack error. Tied at 13 apiece, two straight TAMUC points would close out the set and take the victory for the Lions.
Angelo State continues it road trip with another conference matchup against Texas Woman's in Denton, Texas. The Pioneers have dropped to 2-7, 0-1 LSC after dropping a home match against No. 14 Tarleton State in four sets. Match time is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 16.
