CANYON, Texas (August 25, 2018) – The Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaparrals close out their opening weekend of play Saturday with the first and final games of the day at the BritKare Lady Buff Classic hosted by West Texas A&M. Friday, LCU split (1-1) against two opponents they had never seen, and Saturday, LCU will face two very familiar opponents. They open against Eastern New Mexico at 9 a.m. and close with West Texas A&M at 7:30 p.m. The two opponents are future conference opponents, as LCU joins the Lone Star Conference next season.
 
EASTERN NEW MEXICO | Saturday, Aug. 25 | 9 a.m.
-LCU and Eastern New Mexico are meeting for the 60^th time all-time. ENMU leads the all-time series with a 33-26 mark. The two teams split a home-and-home season series last year (hme team won each) and four of the prior five meetings have resulted in five-set decisions.
- ENMU is a Lone Star Conference member, where they went 9-11 (12-9 overall). This season, the Greyhounds are picked to finish seventh in LSC.
- The Greyhounds went five sets in their opening two matches of the season (Friday), falling to Adams State and Emporia State 3-2. They were down 2-0 in each match. 
- Jasmine Gannon produced 36 kills Friday, with 21 hammered against ESU.
- Kaitlyn Kluna combined for six aces and 54 assists Friday. 
 
WEST TEXAS A&M | Saturday, Aug. 25 | 7:30 p.m.
-Saturday evening's tilt will mark the 40^th all-time matchup between the Lady Chaps and Lady Buffs. WTAMU has had the upper hand in the series with a 29-9-1 all-time series lead. The Lady Buffs won last season's lone meeting 3-0 (Oct. 24, 2017 at Rip Griffin Center). LCU has two wins in the prior 13 meetings and each have come in Canyon (Sept. 5, 2015).
-Despite having the most first place votes, West Texas A&M is preseason picked second in the Lone Star Conference. The Lady Buffs went 23-14 last season, completing play in the LSC with a 12-8 mark.
-The Lady Buffs split Friday's play, defeating Adams State 3-0 before falling 3-0 to Rockhurst. 
-Lindsey Smith averaged four kills per set Friday and completed her day with 24, which leads the team. 
 
GAME NOTES
-LCU moved to 27-13 all-time in season openers and 11-4 in season openers under the direction of head coach Jennifer Lawrence. LCU had won nine of their prior 10 season openers before Friday. The Lady Chaps are 12-7 at the Lady Buff Classic since appearances in 2009.
-LCU's win over Emporia State matched last season's win total in neutral site play, as LCU was 1-5 last season in neutral court play. 
-Lauren Zoller produced 26 kills Friday, leading the Lady Chaps in the category and in kills per set (3.71). LCU also has 17 kills (2.43 per set) from Ashley Vanfleet.  The two have combined for eight kills in the opening set of each match thus far on the season.
-Libero Kelsie French is six digs away from her 2,000^th career dig. If she hits the mark Saturday, she would become the fourth Lady Chap all-time to reach 2,000 digs. The last Lady Chap to hit the mark was Courtney Yonke, who is LCU's all-time digs leader (3,018). French is currently fourth all-time in digs.
-Morgan Schwarz had seven blocks Friday and helped LCU to 11 as a team.  They have an 11-9 advantage over their opposition in the category.
-French and Maddie DeGuire co-lead LCU in aces, as each produced three Friday.