TYLER, Texas – The No. 9 Angelo State Belles advanced to the Lone Star Conference tournament final match after defeating the No. 6 Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas in five sets, 3-2. Angelo State will play the winner of UT Tyler and Arkansas-Fort Smith for the conference championship.
 
Angelo State quickly took a 4-1 lead over the Javelinas over of three kills from Delaney Fuller and Kailyn Gilbreath and a service ace from Fuller. A kill from Grace White and several errors from the Javelinas brought ASUs lead to 7-2 over TAMUK. Two back-to-back kills from Fuller extended the Belles lead to five over Kingsville in the first set, 11-6.
 
Kingsville managed to cut their deficit to four points, but a kill from Fuller gave the Belles the serve back as Fuller served for two points and registered a service ace to bring ASU to a 15-8 lead over the Javelinas. A service error from the Javelinas brought Chloe Patton to the service line for Angelo State, where she served for three straight points as Kingsville made several errors to bring the Belles lead to 10 points over TAMUK, 19-9.
 
Kingsville managed to score three points to cut the Belles lead to seven, but a kill from Sophia Berg, a service ace from Makenna Hanssen, and multiple errors from the Javelinas ended the first set in favor of the Belles as ASU defeated Texas A&M-Kingsville, 25-13, to take a 1-0 set lead over the Javelinas.
 
Set two started very similarly to the first set as Angelo State quickly took a 6-1 lead over the Javelinas with White, Fuller, and Gilbreath all registering kills against Kingsville and Fuller adding another ace to her repertoire. The Javelinas unfortunately found their rhythm shortly afterwards as Kingsville served for three straight points to cut Angelo States lead to just one point, 6-5.
 
Kills from Gilbreath and Baleigh Allen, plus an error from the Javelinas, brought ASUs lead back to three over Kingsville, 9-6, but the Javelinas managed to take the lead from the Belles as several kills from Kingsville and a couple errors from the Belles brought Texas A&M-Kingsville to a 12-10 lead over Angelo State. A kill from Fuller and an error from the Javelinas tied the second set up at 12-12.
 
Multiple attack errors and kills from the Javelinas quickly gave the Javelinas back their lead over Angelo State as Kingsville took a seven-point lead over Angelo State, 20-13. The Belles managed to fight back and cut their deficit to three points thanks to kills from Gilbreath, Allen, and Elsa Lamphere, but Kingsville managed to snatch the win from the Belles in set two off of a kill to take their first set of the night, 25-21 and tie the sets up at 1-1.
 
Set three started off slowly for both teams as Angelo State and Kingsville traded points back and forth until the score was tied at 4-4, where several kills from the Javelinas extended their lead to three over Angelo State, 7-4. An error from the Javelinas, plus a kill from Allen brought the Belles within a point of tying the set at 6-7, but Kingsville managed to score three straight points to take a four-point lead over the Blue and Gold, 10-6.
 
A kill from Nailah Gordon and two service aces from Hanssen brought ASU within one point once again, 9-10, but a kill from the Javelinas broke the Belles rhythm to take a two-point lead over ASU, 11-9. An error from the Javelinas and a kill from Fuller tied the third set up at 11-11. Two kills from Berg and Gilberath, along with a service ace from Lindsey Ledyard, gave the Belles their lead back over the Javelinas, 14-13. Kingsville managed to tie the set at 14-14 again, but several errors from the Javelinas and a kill from Gilbreath extended the Belles lead to three over Kingsville, 17-13.
 
Kingsville tied the set up again at 18-18 off several errors from the Belles and a kill, but a kill from Allen gave the Belles back their lead at 19-18. The Belles managed to extend their lead to two over the Javelinas off a kill from Gordon and several errors from Kingsville, 22-20, but several errors from Angelo State and several kills from the Javelinas ended the third set in favor of Texas A&M-Kingsville as the Javelinas took set two, 25-22, over the Belles and a 2-1 set lead.
 
The Belles came back into the fourth set with a burning anger and vengeance as ASU took a 4-3 lead over the Javelinas. A kill from Gilbreath sent Gilbreath back to serve where she served for nine unanswered points as multiple kills from Gordon and Berg wreaked havoc against the Javelinas defense as ASU took an 11-point lead over Kingsville, 14-3.
 
Kingsville attempted to make a comeback in the fourth set, but Angelo States overwhelming offense early on proved to be too much for Kingsville as the Blue and Gold tied series up at 2-2, defeating the Javelinas in set four, 25-10.
 
Angelo State kept their rhythm alive in set five as the Belles took an early 3-1 lead over the Javelinas off a bad set from Kingsville. Two kills from Gilbreath brought ASU to a lead of three over the Javelinas, 5-2. Angelo State and Texas A&M-Kingsville traded points back and forth, fighting tooth and nail until the set was tied at 8-8 off a kill from Fuller.
 
A kill from Allen, along with several errors from the Javelinas gave Angelo State back their lead of three over Kingsville at 12-9, but the Javelinas managed to find their second wind and cut the Belles lead down to one at 13-12. A kill from Gilbreath gave the Belles back the serve as Allen came to serve for Angelo State. An attack error from the Javelinas ended the fifth set, and the match, in favor of the Blue and Gold as Angelo State defeated Texas A&M-Kingsville in the LSC semifinal match, 15-12, to advance to the conference championship match.
 
Key Players:

• Gilbreath led the Belles offense against the Kingsville Javelinas, registering 14 kills and scoring 15.5 points and a .256 hitting percentage for the Belles for her second triple double of the season. Gilbreath was a huge asset on both sides of the ball, registering 14 assists, three block assists, and 11 digs on defense.
• Patton played a huge impact on defense for the Belles as she registered 25 digs against the Javelinas offense, holding the Javelinas to just a .158 hitting percentage. Patton also registered two assists on offense for the Belles.
• Ledyard continues to show how versatile of a player she can be as she registered 34 assists on offense for the Belles, along with one service ace. On defense, she registered three block assists and 12 digs against the Javelina offense for her fifth double-double of the season.
• Allen showed her versatility as well as she grabbed 12 kills and averaged a .300 hitting percentage for the Belles offensively, while registering three solo blocks, six block assists, and five digs on defense against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
• Fuller registered her first collegiate double double of her career as she registered 13 kills against the Javelinas, scoring 16.5 points for the Belles and averaging a .178 hitting percentage. Fuller also registered 16 digs on defense, three service aces, and one block assist.

 
Up Next:
The Belles will face the winner of the UT Tyler Patriots and the Fort Smith Lions in the championship match on Wednesday, March 31. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. in the Louise Herrington Patriot Center.