FORT SMITH, Ark. (November 17, 2017) – Lubbock Christian University, in their third season of postseason eligibility at the NCAA Division II level, qualified for the Heartland Conference Tournament for a third consecutive season and occupy the No.3-seed of the four-team single-elimination tournament, which gets underway Friday at top-seeded University of Arkansas – Fort Smith's Stubblefield Center. LCU plays the second match Friday (7:30 p.m.), facing No.2-seed St. Mary's in the semifinals, with the winner advancing Saturday to face the winner of the No.1 UAFS vs. No.4 St. Edward's contest for an automatic berth to the NCAA South Central Region Tournament.
No.2-Seed ST. MARY'S (17-11, 9-3) | Friday, Nov. 17 | 7:30 p.m.
Stubblefield Center (Fort Smith, Ark.)
|
• St. Mary's holds a 12-8 advantage in the all-time series dating back to 1980. The Lady Chaps had a six-match win-streak against the Rattlers, until falling twice this season in five sets (3-2 on Sept. 28 in San Antonio, Texas and 3-2 on Oct. 26 in Lubbock).
• The Rattlers closed the regular season winning their final two matches for a 17-11 overall mark. They went 9-3 in conference to finish second in the standings. They were preseason picked sixth in the conference.
• StMU leads the Heartland Conference in aces per set with a mark of 1.47 per set. Monica Ramon is the conference leader with a pace of 0.42 per set. She has a conference leading 45 aces, ranking 44
th nationally.
• The Rattlers went 5-1 in sets decided in a fifth set, with two of the wins coming against LCU.
• St.Mary's landed three players on the All-Conference First Team list, with Tarine Grace (RS), Bree Perry (S) and Channing Hankins (OH) receiving recognition. Grace ranks third in hitting percentage (.261) and fifth in kills (287). Perry ranks second in the conference in assists (992) and assists per set (9.6). Hankins is third in the Heartland in kills (347) and fourth in kills per set (3.27) and points per set (3.48).
GAME NOTES
• LCU is making their third trip to the Heartland Conference Tournament, where they are 1-2 all-time. Last season, LCU advanced to the championship match of the tournament after a 3-1 win over St. Edward's. They lost to UAFS in the championship match.
• The Lady Chaps rank 47
th in digs per set (18.0), with
Kelsie French ranking eighth individually with 6.2 digs per set. She is 24th nationally in total digs with 614.
• French claimed Co-Heartland Conference Libero of the Year honors this season and earned a spot on the All-Conference First Team. The honor makes the 2015 Heartland Conference Defensive Player of the Year a three-time All-Conference selection. She heads into the tournament following three consecutive performances of at least 30 digs (longest streak of the season with at least 30 digs) and is averaging 34.3 digs a match. The trio of games has pushed her career numbers to 1,940 digs with LCU. She is 22 digs away from surpassing Stacy Simpson (1,961) and moving into fourth all-time on LCU's all-time career digs list. French has 614 digs, which is the tenth highest single season mark in program history.
•
Channing Stewart claimed All-Heartland Conference honors (Honorable Mention) to bookend a collegiate career which opened with 2014 All-Conference and Freshman of the Year accolades. Stewart suffered season-ending knee injuries in consecutive seasons before returning this season to post 188 kills this season. She closed out the regular season with at least 10 kills in seven of her last nine matches (averaging 14.1 kills per match over the last nine matches).
•
Lauren Zoller ranks fourth in the Heartland Conference in attacks per set (9.19) and sixth in total attacks (882).
• LCU closed out the regular season with a combined 201 digs over their final two matches. They topped their season high of 99 digs (from Nov. 2 at Dallas Baptist) with a new season high of 102 on Nov.4 at St. Edward's (LCU's last regular season match). The 102 digs were the most since posting 111 on Nov. 18, 2016 against St. Edward's.
