Dallas Baptist (9-10, 6-5 Heartland) at Lubbock Christian (14-3, 10-2 Heartland)Thursday, October 23 – 7 p.m.
Lubbock, Texas (Rip Griffin Center)
Challenging week ahead for Lady ChapsLCU faces three formidable opponents this week, beginning with Dallas Baptist on Thursday. The Patriots are in fourth place within the Heartland Conference and swept Newman two weeks ago, a team that gave the Lady Chaps their second conference loss on the year. LCU swept the Patriots in Dallas on September 20.
On Friday, LCU hosts No. 25 West Texas A&M, a team the Lady Chaps have not beaten since 2010.LCU dropped a close four-set match to the Lady Buffs in Canyon on October 7.
In perhaps the most important game of the season, Arkansas-Fort Smith comes to town Saturday for a conference 1-2 matchup. The Lady Chaps sit one game behind the Lions, and an LCU win over UAFS would perch both teams atop the league.
Career week warrants Castleberry awardWACO, Texas (October 20, 2014) –
Channing Castleberry of Lubbock Christian was rewarded following career performances by being named the Heartland Conference Hitter of the Week, her first such honor, the conference office announced Monday.
The freshman outside hitter posted a career-high 20 kills and her 22 digs tied a career-best in a win at Midwestern State on Wednesday. Castleberry followed up that performance at Newman the following day with a new career-high of 25 kills, again recording a double-double with 17 digs. The Amarillo, Texas, native was seldom used in the sweep at OPSU on Friday to finish the week with an average of 4.36 kills and 4.00 digs per set along with four total blocks.
Lubbock Christian back on winning trackGOODWELL, Okla. (October 17, 2014) – Lubbock Christian dismissed Oklahoma Panhandle State in three sets October 17 at Oscar Williams Fieldhouse, led by 11 kills from
Amy Edwards and a team season-high nine service aces.
Reeling from last night's tight five-set loss to Newman, the Lady Chaps made quick work of the Aggies by scores of 25-11, 25-13 and 25-16. LCU compiled 42 kills compared to OPSU's 18 and handed out more than twice the amount of Aggie assists.
LCU cruised out to an early 12-3 advantage in set one and extended the lead to 16-6 on a kill by
Samantha Matthews. A smart play by
Erin Fisher resulted in a kill and a 21-11 lead, and the setter provided another attack to put the Lady Chaps up 23-11. An Aggie ball handling error and solo block by Matthews gave LCU the set one victory.
Set two was much of the same, as
Christa Daniel served over a pair of aces in the midst of a 6-1 LCU run that grew to a 12-4 lead following a kill by
Bryce Shankle.
Malori Maddox recorded two of her career-high four service aces in back-to-back fashion to extend the Lady Chap gap to 21-10. The set seemed to have concluded on a kill by Shankle, but officials called her for a net violation instead, extending the set to one more play that resulted in an OPSU ball handling error.
The Lady Chaps raced out to their fastest start on the evening in the third set, jumping ahead 9-1. The Aggies narrowed the lead to 13-6 on a Lady Chap block error, but LCU responded with a 6-3 run to go ahead 19-9. A pair of kills by Shankle put the Lady Chaps at match point, 24-13, but the Aggies were not ready to quit just yet, gaining a point on a Dejiana Rubio kill and taking advantage of two miscues by the Lady Chaps. However, the home team ran out of time, falling to LCU on an OPSU bad set.
Fisher dished out a game-high 26 assists, and Daniel handled a game-best 10 digs.
For OPSU, Shaina Eddings had seven kills.
