FORT SMITH, Ark. (October 22, 2015) – The Lady Chaparrals of Lubbock Christian University had difficulty containing the offensive power of Arkansas-Fort Smith in a 3-1 loss (22-25, 26-24, 13-25, 19-25) to the league-leading Lady Lions Thursday night at the Stubblefield Center but still hold onto the fourth and final spot to qualify for the conference tournament in November.
 
While the Lady Lions ran their conference mark to a perfect 10-0, the Lady Chaps sit a half-game behind Dallas Baptist for the third slot in the Heartland following a Patriot loss to Texas A&M-International tonight and are now a half-game up on the Dustdevils following their victory. The league first-place team earns the right to host the four top finishers in the conference tournament November 20-21.
 
UAFS (16-3, 10-0 Heartland) was dominant at the net with three Lady Lions tallying double-digit kills, led by Kennedi Coleman's 20. Meanwhile, LCU (12-8, 7-4 Heartland) compiled a season-low 39 kills in a four-set match with Maddie Johnson collecting a team-high 13 and Emily Hanaway adding 10.
 
In set one, Ariel Froeschl blasted a kill up the middle through a pair of blockers for a 4-4 score, but the Lady Lions responded with a 6-0 run to jump ahead 10-5. UAFS kept a steady lead until Froeschl again came through with a definitive kill to the back corner to cut the gap to 23-20. A block by Froeschl and Christiana Tavo added another Lady Chap point and a UAFS attempt sailed deep to put LCU to within 23-22, but Coleman put down a kill and Tavo's try was just wide on the final point.
 
Set two got off to a rough start for LCU, as the Lady Lions ran out to a 7-2 advantage. A kill by Hanaway capped a 14-9 Lady Chap spurt to tie the set at 16-all, and LCU again tied it up at 22-22 following back-to-back attack errors. A block by Hanaway and Kacey Deterding gave the Lady Chaps their first lead of the set at 24-23, and Hanaway provided successive kills to tie the match at one each.
 
However, the momentum was short lived as UAFS solidly came back in set three to turn a 10-9 advantage into a 21-11 lead. The Lady Lions quickly ended the set with a 12-point victory.
 
UAFS continued their domineering play with three straight points to begin the fourth set. Johnson earned a kill to pull the Lady Chaps to within 13-10, but the Lady Lions strung together a 4-1 run for a 17-11 lead. A UAFS service error gave LCU life at 19-15 and again at 21-17, but two Lady Lion kills and an LCU attack error increased the margin to 24-17 as Shannon Thompson finalized the night on a kill.
 
The Lady Chaps travel to Newman Saturday for a doubleheader beginning with NU, the Heartland's second-place team, followed by a matchup with Tarleton State, the leader in the standings of the Lone Star Conference.