St. Edwards (10-1, 6-1 Heartland) at Lubbock Christian (9-1, 6-1 Heartland)
Saturday, October 4 – 12 PM
Lubbock, Texas (Rip Griffin Center)
 
About the Hilltoppers
SEU started the year on a torrid pace with an 8-0 record before a loss to Arkansas-Fort Smith last week. The Hilltoppers and Lady Chaps are tied for second place in Heartland Conference standings, making this matchup an important one.
 
Johnson returns to action
Redshirt junior Maddie Johnson is back on the court for LCU after sitting out last season recovering from surgery. The Frenship High School product was a Second Team All-Sooner Athletic Conference pick as a sophomore after compiling 244 kills, 369 digs and a team-best 38 service aces. In her 2014 debut, the 5-10 outside hitter totaled a career and game-high 19 kills against St. Mary's on Sept. 4 and has come close to that mark twice, once on Sept. 20 and again last night by logging 18 kills. Johnson leads the Lady Chaps in total kills (128) and kills per set (3.66).
 
All-around Fisher
Erin Fisher was a dominant floor leader in 2013, handing out 11.71 assists per set, three higher than any other player in the Heartland Conference. This season, the 5-9 setter has picked up from where she left off, compiling an average of 11.27 helpers per set. The Monahans, Texas, native has contributed in other ways for the Lady Chaps as well, compiling 119 total digs in 2014, second only to libero Christa Daniel, as well as recording 25 kills and four service aces on the season.
 
Coach Lawrence becomes program's winningest
With a 3-0 sweep over St. Mary's on September 4, head coach Jennifer Lawrence became LCU volleyball's all-time leader in wins. The victory brought her to number 251 to surpass Steven McRoberts, the Lady Chap coach from 1996-2003. Lawrence now has an overall record of 259-104 and has most recently led the team to an impressive 20-6 record in the Heartland Conference since 2013.
 
National statistics
The Lady Chaps' conference-leading 12.7 assists per set is currently tied for the 32^nd highest mark in NCAA Division II, paced by Erin Fisher's 23^rd-best 11.09 assists per frame. The 13.64 kills/set for LCU are 37^th in the nation. Defensively, the squad's average of 17.55 digs per set is ranked 34^th, led by libero Christa Daniel's 5.94/set, good enough for 14^th overall. Middle blocker Amy Edwards is collecting 1.36 blocks per set which is sixth in the country, including her career-high 10 she tallied against Arkansas Tech Sept. 19, tying for the second best outing by any Division II player so far this season.
 
Lady Chaps giddy-up after slow start to Mustangs
LUBBOCK, Texas (October 3, 2014) – Maddie Johnson tallied a game-high 18 kills and Channing Castleberry tied a career-high with 16 to ignite Lubbock Christian to a 3-1 match victory over Midwestern State on Friday night at the Rip Griffin Center.
The Lady Chaps (9-1, 6-1 Heartland) bounced back after a 27-25 first set loss to the Mustangs (5-11, 1-5 Lone Star) but won the next three by scores of 25-12, 25-18 and 25-14.
A 6-0 MSU run in set one put the Mustangs on top of LCU at 12-9, but the Lady Chaps pushed their way to a late game-point advantage at 24-22. A kill by MSU's Sarah Rosinke preceded a block by Addison Semer and Angel Summers to knot the game at 24-all, but a Midwestern attack error put LCU back in front. A Summers' kill was then followed by a an attack from Johnson that careened off the hands of Semer and Sarah Garfield only to land back on LCU's side for another point and a 26-25 MSU lead. On the next play, Samantha Matthews was called for being in the net to conclude set one.
The Lady Chaps took control in the next frame, powered by a tremendous play by Christa Daniel with a 5-2 LCU lead. The libero sprinted off of the court to save a shanked pass, somehow making contact with the ball as her back was facing the net and sailed it over, which led to another point and an ignited LCU crowd. A pair of service aces by Malori Maddox put the Lady Chaps up 13-6 and prompted a Midwestern timeout. Leading 18-11, LCU closed the set out on a 7-2 run to tie the match at one apiece.
Set three was tight throughout, and with the stanza tied at 16-all, setter Erin Fisher tossed a dump over the net that hit the Mustang floor to begin a 5-0 Lady Chap run. An attack error by MSU and successive kills from Johnson and Matthews finished off the set to put LCU up 2-1 in the match.
It appeared the Lady Chaps were ready to call it a night in the fourth set by jumping out to an 11-2 lead, a period that included four kills by Castleberry and a service ace by Kyleigh Lucia. Matthews recorded the first ace of her career to put LCU up 20-9 before a final kill by Johnson at 24-14 wrapped up the contest.
Fisher handed out a game-high 50 assists, Daniel logged a game-high 18 digs, and Amy Edwards produced 10 kills and a game-high five blocks.
For the Mustangs, Nicole Marzik had 13 kills and Hunter Porter added 10.