SAN ANGELO – The Tarleton TexAnn volleyball team will travel to San Angelo and Abilene this week to play in their final two Lone Star Conference matches of the 2009 regular season. The TexAnns will face Angelo State on Thursday, Nov. 5 before heading to Abilene to take on Abilene Christian on Saturday, Nov. 7.
The TexAnns (10-19, 4-7 LSC) are coming off a 2-1 homestand after picking up back-to-back wins against Eastern New Mexico (3-0) and St. Edward's (3-1). Tarleton's lone defeat came against then No. 6-ranked West Texas A&M (3-0).
The Rambelles (16-13, 8-3 LSC), who have already wrapped-up a spot in LSC Championships, went 2-0 last week picking up 3-2 wins over both Southeastern Oklahoma and East Central. ASU has won four straight and six of their last seven matches.
Alaina Sivells leads the Rambelles with 290 kills and is second on the squad with 69 total blocks. Chelsea Gibson leads ASU at the net with 72 total blocks on the season.
ASU leads the all-time series 21-11. The Rambelles have won the previous two meetings including a 3-0 win over the TexAnns in Stephenville last season. Tarleton is just 4-11 all-time in San Angelo and 2-3 inside the Junell Center and Stephens Arena.
ACU (25-5, 10-1 LSC) has already locked-up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming LSC Championships as the Wildcats went 3-0 last week, also collecting wins over SOSU (3-1) and ECU (3-0). ACU picked up a non-conference win over Texas-Permian Basin earlier last week. The Wildcats could arguably be the hottest team in the LSC right now having won 13 straight and 16 of the last 17 matches.
Offensively the Wildcats are led by Jordan Schilling with 308 kills. Last season's LSC Defensive Player of the Year, Shawna Hines, is working both sides of the net this season as she leads her team with a .310 hitting percentage. She leads the nation with 163 total blocks and a 1.61 blocks per set average.
ACU leads the all-time series 37-8, but Tarleton ended a nine-match losing streak to the Wildcats in Stephenville last season. Tarleton's 2008 season came to an end when ACU downed the TexAnns, 3-2, in the semifinal match at last season's LSC Championships in Canyon. Tarleton has picked-up just one win at Moody Coliseum since 1978 (Nov. 7, 1998).
First service on Thursday is set for 7 p.m. at Stephens Arena. First service in Abilene on Saturday is set for 2 p.m.
