Oct. 21, 2004

Final Stats

The West Texas A&M University Lady Buff volleyball team battled back to defeat the Angelo State University Rambelles, 3-2 (30-23, 34-32, 25-30, 27-30, 17-15), Thursday night in a key Lone Star Conference South Division match at The Box.

WTAMU improves to 17-11 overall, and 2-4 in LSC South standings, keeping their chances alive for the postseason tournament. ASU lost its third match in row, is now 17-7 overall, 4-2 in the LSC South, and are now tied with Eastern New Mexico University, who upset division leader Abilene Christian University Thursday night at Portales, N.M., as the Zias dealt the Wildcats their first division loss.

WTAMU had five players in double-digit kills, led by sophomore outside hitter Rachel Altman's 18 kills. Classmates outside hitter Jessica Scherr and middle blocker Megan Spivey added 15 kills apiece, while senior outside hitter Jill Steininger tallied 12 kills and senior middle blocker Cynthia Carter chipped in with 10 kills on a team-high .318 attack percentage.

The Lady Buffs hit .218 for the match, including .325 in game one and .300 in the second game. ASU hit .239 on the night, with a match-high .326 in game three.

The Rambelles were led by Nicole Stoffel's match-high 24 kills and 23 kills from Lindsey Jones on a match-high .346 attack percentage.

WTAMU freshman setter Erin Houlihan dished out 64 assists, while the Lady Buffs had five players in double-digit digs, including three with 20 or more, led by junior libero Brittani Bell, who tied a match-high with 23 digs. Altman and Scherr registered 20 digs apiece, while Houlihan and fellow freshman, outside hitter Kolby Rhoades posted 12 digs each.

ASU's Amber Nelson doled out a match-high 71 assists, while Shelby Pitcock tied a match-high with 23 digs.

The Rambelles had a 7-5 team block advantage, led by four block assists by Mallory Honeycutt. Spivey led the Lady Buffs with three blocks (one solo, two assists).

It was WTAMU's 12th-consecutive win over ASU in The Box, as the two teams split the regular-season meeting for the second-straight year. Last year ASU snapped WTAMU's NCAA-II record of 77-consecutive wins vs. conference opponents with a five-game match at San Angelo, Texas. The Lady Buffs lead the all-time series, 34-14.

WTAMU opened a 19-13 lead in game one, and extended it to 27-21 after an ASU errant attack, coasting to a 30-23 game one victory after the Rambelles served the ball out-of-bounds.

The second game was nip-and-tuck throughout, as neither team could get a lead and hold on. WTAMU had a 26-24 lead after a kill by Steininger, but ASU came back to take a 29-28 lead after a tandem block from Stoffel and Honeycutt. The Rambelles had three other chances at game point, but the Lady Buffs battled back, down 32-31 and scoring the final three points of the stanza to take game two, 34-32, on a Spivey kill.

WTAMU broke out to a 7-1 lead in the third game after Rhoades served up one of her match-high three service aces on the night, but ASU stormed back to tie it at 10-all on consecutive kills by Amber Smith, who finished the night with 10 kills.

The Rambelles later took a 24-20 lead after another kill by Smith and went on to take the game three, 30-25, after a WTAMU attack sailed out.

Game four saw the Lady Buffs again open a big lead, this time at 15-8 after a Scherr kill, and extended the advantage to 19-11 after an ASU error. The Rambelles charged back to pull within 21-19, prompting a WTAMU timeout.

After taking a 23-20 lead after another kill from Scherr, WTAMU appeared to take a 24-20 lead as Spivey put down a kill, but the play was inadvertently whistled by the official and was replayed. ASU took advantage with a kill by Lynelle Morelan to make it 23-21, eventually tying it at 25-all after another Morelan kill.

A kill by Jones gave ASU the game four victory, at 30-27, forcing the fifth and deciding game.

In game five, WTAMU opened with a 4-1 lead after a dig by Bell floated over and landed untouched inside the line. Steininger gave the Lady Buffs a 7-5 lead with a kill, but the Rambelles reeled of the next three points to take an 8-7 lead and the teams switched sides.

ASU had a match-point at 14-12 after a kill by Stoffel, but was blocked by Altman and Spivey on the next point. After a lengthy rally, the Rambelles again went to Stoffel, whose attack sailed just wide, as the crowd held its breath awaiting the official's signal, tieing it at 14-14.

ASU took a timeout and WTAMU deposited the ensuing serve into the net for the Lady Buffs' 14th service error of the night, however Stoffel followed with an error to tie it at 15's. Rhoades then served up another ace to give the Lady Buffs match-point, and Stoffel's next attack sailed long, out-of-bounds, ending the match at 17-15.

WTAMU has its home finale on Saturday, as the Lady Buffs host the Wildcats of ACU at 2 p.m. at The Box. It will be Senior Day, as WTAMU will honor its two seniors, Steininger and defensive specialist Katie Starkweather.