PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico volleyball will look to keep its postseason hopes alive when it travels to conference front-runner Angelo State before facing off against Lubbock Christian this weekend.

Scouting the Rams

Angelo State is the hottest team in the Lone Star Conference after earning its seventh consecutive victory after defeating Texas A&M-Commerce and UT Tyler last week.

ASU will prove to be tough competition for the Hounds as they lead the conference in both team hitting percentage (.277) and opponent hitting percentage (.112). The Rams have recorded 89 service aces and 758 kills in 2019 which ranks fourth and fifth throughout the Lone Star. Sophomore Kailyn Gilbreath is the most efficient scorer in the league as she leads the LSC with a .438 attack percentage.

Gilbreath also leads the Rams with 182 kills while her teammates Sundara Chinn, Makenzie Griffin and Haley Coulter all have at least 100 kills on the year.

Leading the Rams offense are setters Lindsey Ledyard and Meghan Parker. Ledyard has tallied a team-high 283 assists, averaging 5.24 per set while Parker leads the squad with 18 service aces which is tied for the seventh best mark in the conference. Defensively Makenna Hanssen leads the way with 194 digs while Sophia Berg has recorded 47 blocks.

History with the Rams

Angelo State enters the match with a commanding 21-3 all-time series lead and has never dropped a match to ENMU at home. The Rams have won the last four meetings between the two squads including a 3-0 victory earlier this season in Portales on Sept. 21.

The Hounds most recent win against ASU came inside Greyhound Stadium in 2017, as Eastern took the match in five sets.

Scouting the Chaparrals

Lubbock Christian had a rough outing last week as it only managed to win two total sets as they dropped matches to UT Tyler and No. 21 Texas A&M-Commerce.
The Chaparrals have struggled with offensive efficiency all season and despite ranking seventh with 743 kills, their .143 team attacking percentage is the second-lowest mark amongst all Lone Star Conference competitors. Defensively, LCU has shown it is one of the best in the league as it ranks third with 1057 digs and seventh with 119 blocks. The Lady Chaps have limited their opponents to a .174 attacking percentage and have recorded the third most service aces in the LSC with 90.

The Chaparrals offense will center around junior Avery Moore, who leads the team with 184 kills on the year, the seventh-best mark in the league. Moore has scored 10 or more kills in 11 of her 16 games this season.

History with the Chaparrals

Eastern New Mexico leads the all-time series with Lubbock Christian 33-28 however are just 12-15 when traveling to LCU. The Chaps have begun turning the series around in their favor most recently as they have taken seven of the last ten meetings and have dropped just one in the last five match-ups between the teams.

IT`S TURN AROUND TIME

The Hounds face an almost must-win situation this weekend if they hope to keep their postseason hopes alive and enter the weekend in sixth place in their division. Eastern currently sits five wins behind division leader Angelo State and two behind fourth place Lubbock Christian. The top four teams from each division receive bids to the tournament.

The Greyhounds will host three consecutive home matches next week beginning with arch-rival West Texas A&M followed by weekend games against division foes Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin.

BLOCK PARTY

In their five-set victory over Midwestern State last week, the Hounds recorded 15 blocks, the seventh-highest single-game mark across the conference this year. Leading the way was freshman middle blocker Gracelyn Stubbs who finished with a career high 6 total blocks (three solo, three assists).

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Sophomore outside hitter Adriana Puni was on the team last year but did not appear in any game action. Last week Puni finished with career-highs in blocks (5) and digs (8) as well as recording a service ace.

Freshman Qitana Spaiga has provided a fresh option off of the bench for interim head coach Katie Burnett. Sapiga has recorded 31 total assists last week and finished with a personal best 24 in the victory against MSU.