#25 West Texas A&M (21-3, 12-0 Lone Star) at Lubbock Christian (15-3, 11-2 Heartland)
Friday, October 24 – 6 p.m.
Lubbock, Texas (Rip Griffin Center)
 
Challenging week ahead for Lady Chaps
Today, 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 award
WACO, 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 October 16. 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 October 17 to finish the week with an average of 4.36 kills and 4.00 digs per set along with four total blocks.
 
Lady Chaps outplay Patriots in three close sets to up winning streak
LUBBOCK, Texas (October 23, 2014) – Channing Castleberry notched double-double number 10 on the season with game-highs of 17 kills and 18 digs, and Erin Fisher dished out an average of 17 assists per set to boost Lubbock Christian's home conference winning streak to 12 games in a sweep over Dallas Baptist on Thursday night at the Rip Griffin Center.
Despite the Lady Chaps (15-3, 11-2 Heartland) taking the victory in straight sets, the match was closely contested with the first two stanzas going into extra points at 29-27 and 26-24 before LCU wrapped up the night on a 25-20 set three win. The Lady Chaps last Heartland Conference loss at the Rip occurred at the hands of Saturday's opponent, Arkansas-Fort Smith, on September 26, 2013.
Led by Fisher's 51 helpers, the Lady Chaps tallied 56 total assists on the evening, along with 59 kills, to mark the highest totals in a three-game match in 2014. Amy Edwards and Maddie Johnson each tallied 14 kills, while Edwards also contributed three of the team's four total blocks.
LCU fell behind early in the contest, trailing 8-3, forcing head coach Jennifer Lawrence to call a timeout. The Lady Chaps roared back with an 8-4 run to knot the game at 12-all on a solo block by Edwards. A pair of kills by Johnson sandwiched a successful attack by Samantha Matthews put the Lady Chaps in control at 20-15 before LCU began to unravel, allowing DBU (9-11, 6-6 Heartland) to rattle off seven unanswered points for a 22-20 lead. Matthews came through with two kills to tie the game before the teams traded leads up until 27-27 when Castleberry careened a kill off of the arms of a Patriot defender and a DBU attack found its way into the net to give LCU the set one win.
The second set was again very tightly played with the largest scoring margin occurring at 17-13 following a 4-0 Lady Chap run that included kills by the formidable LCU front row of Castleberry, Johnson and Edwards. Behind a trio of kills by Tiara Gipson, the Patriots fought back to tie the game at 19-19, and the set again saw ties at the 20, 21, and 22-point marks. A kill by Edwards and a DBU attack error put the Lady Chaps at set point, but a kill by Patriot Brooke Manley and an LCU attack error tied the game at 24-all. Edwards provided a kill on the subsequent play before an attack error by Manley gave LCU the two-point victory.
Christiana Tavo entered the contest in the third set and made her presence known, delivering a kill on her first touch to pull the Lady Chaps to within 9-10 of the Patriots and then tied the game at 12-12 on her second attempt. Tavo then gave LCU the lead at 18-17 and supplied her fourth kill prior to a combined block alongside Edwards to put the Lady Chaps up 22-19. The squads traded the next two points before Fisher dispensed a smart play by tossing over a set to put LCU at match point, which quickly became a match victory after a DBU attack error.
For the Patriots, Erika Papadeas had 15 kills.