The Angelo State volleyball team (18-13, 10-3 LSC) will be making its second straight appearance in the Lone Star Conference Volleyball Tournament this weekend. The 'Belles will serve as the tournament's No. 3 seed and open the first round against No. 6-seed Texas Woman's (16-16, 6-7 LSC) at 12 p.m. The tournament is behind held at the WTAMU Fieldhouse, a.k.a. "The Box", in Canyon.

In the LSC Tournament...The 'Belles are making their 13th-ever appearance in the LSC Tournament. ASU is 27-8 all-time and as claimed six conference championships. The 'Belles earned conference titles in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1991 and 1992. ASU was also runner up at the event in 1993. Angelo State's six conference titles are second in the league behind only West Texas A&M (9).

Against Texas Woman's...Thursday match against Texas Woman's will mark the 35th meeting between the two programs in volleyball.  The 'Belles hold a 23-11 all-time advantage over TWU, but dropped a three-set decision to the Pioneers in San Angelo on Oct. 10 of this year.  ASU dropped three straight matches to Texas Woman's with the last win by the 'Belles in the series coming in 2005 (3-1).

Against the rest of the field...The 'Belles have gone 4-3 against this year's tournament field. ASU defeated Texas A&M-Commerce (3-0, Oct. 8), Central Oklahoma (3-1, Oct. 17), Texas A&M-Kingsville (3-0, Nov. 7) and Midwestern State (3-0, Oct. 24), and lost to West Texas A&M (3-0, Sept. 19), Abilene Christian (3-0, Sept. 24) and Texas Woman's (3-0, Oct. 10). Angelo State has a winning record all-time against six of their seven possible opponents this weekend, the only exception being tournament host WTAM* (15-44).  The 'Belles are 53-28 all-time against ACU, 32-19 against A&M-Commerce, 11-15 against UCO, 23-11 against TWU, 46-10 against TAMUK and 19-9 against MSU.

About Coach Waddington...In just his second season at the helm of the 'Belles, Chuck Waddington has turned around a program that ranked at or near the bottom of the LSC in the three previous seasons prior to his arrival. In his two seasons with ASU, Waddington has a 38-27 (.585) overall mark and is 18-8 in the LSC during that time. Prior to his arrival at ASU, Waddington spent five seasons as an assistant coach at NCAA D-II power Florida Southern.

Sivells in elite company...Senior middle blocker Alaina Sivells (6-0, Marble Falls) is four ASU players to record over 1,000 kills and 300 blocks in a career. Sivells enters the LSC Tournament ranked sixth all-time at ASU with 316 blocks and seventh all-time with 1,118 kills. She is 17 blocks behind fifth place (333, Donna King, 1988-91) and 79 kills behind sixth place (1,197, King).

More on Sivells...Entering the tournament, Alaina Sivells ranks in the top 10 of three LSC statistical categories. Sivells sits second in the league with 3.76 points per set, fourth with 3.22 kills per set, and eighth with 0.80 blocks per set. She has led the 'Belles in each of the past three seasons and is looking to become the first-ever player to lead ASU in blocks for four seasons.

Duncan digs...Senior libero Kimber Duncan (5-8, Prineville, Ore.) ranks fifth all-time at ASU with 1,165 career digs and is one of eight 'Belles all-time to record more than 1,000 career digs. Duncan led ASU last fall in digs and is on pace to lead the 'Belles for the second straight season despite splitting time at outside hitter this season.

Freshman power...The 'Belles boast nine freshman on their roster with most of those freshman seeing considerable playing time. Freshman Chelsea Gibson (5-10, Spring Branch) is not only one of the top freshman in the LSC, but one of the top players. Gibson ranks second in the league with a .321 hitting percentage, the highest by a 'Belle since 1989 (.347, Gail Allison) and ranks ninth in the league with 0.79 blocks per set and 10th with 3.43 points per set. Freshman Caroline Cleveland (5-10, Abilene) sits sixth in the LSC with 0.35 service aces per set, freshman Katie Coleman (6-0, San Antonio) is sixth with a .303 hitting percentage and freshman Alex Woolsey (5-10, Plano) sits seventh with 8.83 assists per set. There only seven freshman among the top 10 in any LSC statistical category entering the tournament, four of which are 'Belles.

Other tournament action...The 'Belles and TWU open the LSC Tournament at noon Thursday, kicking of the four-match first round. No. 2-seed Abilene Christian will face seventh-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville at 2:30 p.m. to complete ASU's bracket. On the other side of the bracket, fourth-seeded Texas A&M-Commerce meets No. 5-seed Central Oklahoma at 5 p.m. and host and top-seeded West Texas A&M plays No. 8-seed Midwestern State at 7:30 p.m. Friday's semifinals are set for 5 & 7:30 p.m. with Saturday's final to be played at 7 p.m.

Watch on-line...The LSC will be webcasting all of the matches of this year's tournament. To view these matches free of charge or to watch live stats, visit the LSC Web site at www.lonestarconference.org.