SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State women's volleyball team (21-7, 14-4 Lone Star Conference) will close out the regular season on the road this weekend as they travel to UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico.
The Belles have been excellent defensively all season, ranking first in the conference in opponent hitting percentage and second in opponent kills per set.
Sophomore Baleigh Allen has had a breakout year after playing in just three matches as a freshman and is coming off of yet another stellar weekend. On the season, she has 98 blocks, which is good for 1.07 per set. This number ranks fifth in the Lone Star Conference. Junior Sundara Chinn and freshman Sophia Berg, who has really come into her own lately, rank second and third on the team with 73 and 65 blocks, respectively.
Chinn has led the team in digs this season with 315 for an average of 3.18 per set, which ranks tenth in the Lone Star Conference. Freshman libero Chloe Robinson has been outstanding defensively since being moved into her current role halfway through the season and ranks second on the team with 288 total digs and an average of 2.91 per set. Makenna Hanssen has been a strong contributor as well, with 278 total digs on the year. Setter Meghan Parker and Morgan Preston round out the top five with both also having over 200 digs on the season.
Offensively, the Belles have been led at the net by senior transfer Audrey Fragniere, who has recorded 282 kills for an average of 2.85 kills per set, which ranks seventh in the Lone Star Conference. Sundara Chinn has been excellent as well, recording 235 kills for an average of 2.37 kills per set. Baleigh Allen has been superb all year with 219 kills on a .359 hitting percentage, which ranks second in the Lone Star Conference, and is coming off of a program record performance in which she hit .857 on 14 attempts.
Setter Meghan Parker continues to be a steady presence for this team and has recorded 1013 assists on the season for an average of 9.93 per set, both of which rank second in the Lone Star Conference. With 52 assists this weekend, Parker would hit the 3500 assist mark, which would place her sixth in Angelo State history.
The Belles have also been excellent from the service line this season, with setter Meghan Parker having recorded 48 service aces for an average of 0.47 per set, which ranks first in the Lone Star Conference and 26th nationally. Freshmen Morgan Preston and Sophia Berg have also been excellent, recording 53 aces between them. Preston ranks seventh in the Lone Star Conference with an average of 0.31 per set.
The Belles have gotten strong contributions from several other players this season. Bailey Drum went over the 100 kill mark this past weekend and now has 103 on the year for an average of 1.47 per set. Junior transfer Makenzie Griffin has had a strong season despite only playing in 31 sets, with 56 kills for an average of 1.81 per set. Freshman Brianna Hudson has also been strong this season with 35 kills in 38 sets played. All three of these players have recorded double digit kills for the Belles in a single match at least once this season. Setter Eadara Files has been effective in relief of Meghan Parker this season, recording 57 assists and 43 digs in just 44 sets played.
UT Permian Basin comes into Friday's match with a record of 12-15 (7-11 LSC) and having lost their previous four matches. The Belles are 10-6 all time against the Falcons.
Western New Mexico comes into Saturday's match with a record of 10-17 (6-12 LSC). The Belles are 6-4 all time against the Mustangs.
