LUBBOCK, Texas (October 22, 2021) – Lubbock Christian University returns home for a three-match homestand, which opens Friday at 6 p.m., as LCU hosts No.15 Texas – Tyler (UT Tyler) for the first of two home matches over the weekend. LCU will also host Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday for a 2 p.m. first serve. Friday's match is LCU's "Play For The Cure Night," in conjunction with the LCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Fans are encouraged to wear pink as part of October serving as Breast Cancer Awareness Month Friday.
 

Lone Star Conference - Play For The Cure
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS
No.15 UT Tyler	Rip Griffin Center	Fri, Oct. 22	6 p.m.	Video	Stats
Texas A&M-Commerce	Rip Griffin Center	Sat, Oct. 23	2 p.m.	Video	Stats

MATCH NOTES (PDF)

UT Tyler | Friday, Oct. 22 | 6 p.m. | 
- The Lady Chaps and UT Tyler opened their all-time series during the 2019 season in Tyler, Texas, where the Patriots topped LCU 3-1 on Oct. 4, 2019. This meeting marks their first ever meeting in Lubbock.
- UTT was preseason picked second in the Lone Star Conference, with seven first-place votes received. They went 14-1 last season, with a 12-0 mark in conference play. Their one loss, after a 14-0 start, was in the LSC Championship match (3-2 to Angelo State), which was their final NCAA countable contest of the season. They proceeded to play in a AVCA mock-championship tournament (NCAA recognized the matches as exhibition games), where they fell to Harding in the third round. They are one of two teams (joining ASU) unbeaten in conference play this season (10-0) and 14-0 overall (4-0 in road matches). UTT has won 26 consecutive regular season matches. Their strength of schedule ranks 275 out of 290 in NCAA Division II.
- Along with being the only unbeaten team in NCAA Division II, the Patriots have won 27 of their last 28 sets played coming into Friday's contest.
- UTT leads the nation in several NCAA statistical categories. They average 15.4 kills per set, which leads the nation, and their mark of assists per set also leads the nation (14.85).
- Christina Escamilla ranks third nationally in hitting percentage with a mark of .446. As a team, UTT ranks eighth nationally at a .271 team hitting percentage.
 
TAMUC | Saturday, Oct. 23 | 2 p.m. | 
- Despite the all-time history between LCU and A&M – Commerce dating back to 1979, the Lady Chaps and Lions have only met five times all-time. TAMUC has won all five prior battles. The contest Saturday marks TAMUC's second-ever trip to Lubbock and first since Nov. 13, 1980. The previous meeting (overall) was Oct. 5, 2019, which resulted in a 3-1 Lions win in Commerce, Texas.
- TAMUC was preseason picked to finish sixth in the Lone Star Conference this season. They went 7-7 overall last season, with a 6-6 conference record in the LSC. They are 8-7 this season and enter the week in sixth place in the LSC with a 7-3 record in conference play this season. The Lions are 3-3 in road play this season and open the week at No.4 Angelo State Friday.
- The Lions rank 16^th nationally in assists per set, with a mark of 12.9 per set. Celeste Vela leads the way for TAMUC, with a LSC-best mark of 10.4 assists per set. Her primary target is Maddy Rashford, who has 8.95 kill attempts per set. Vela is one of two players this season to have a triple-double in the LSC
- TAMUC has a familiar face on the roster to a pair of Lady Chaps, as Coronado High School product Carson Edwards is a member of the Lions. She was high school teammates with LCU's Aaliyah Gray and Sailey Six.

LADY CHAP NOTES
- LCU opened conference play with their best conference start since 2018 (6-0 start) and enter Friday's play 12-5 overall and 8-1 in conference, which has them tied third in the LSC (with West Texas A&M).
-The Lady Chaps meet a nationally ranked opponent for a fourth time this season, as they are 0-3 against AVCA Top-25 nationally ranked programs after a 3-1 loss to No.4 Washburn, a 3-0 loss to No.15 Colorado School of Mines (both were on Sept. 10) and an Oct. 6 loss (3-0) at Angelo State. LCU is 2-10 since 2015 against nationally ranked programs. Their last win over a ranked opponent was a 3-1 win over No.15 Angelo State last season inside Rip Griffin Center (Oct. 22, 2020), which also marked their last win at home against a nationally ranked program.
- The Lady Chaps have provided balance in conference play, as Aaliyah Gray (72), Jenna Lyons (66), Hannah Froeschl (65) and Sage Chain (56) each have over 50 kills in LSC play. Zoe Parker has 12 aces, Kendall Mahaney has 4.17 digs per set, Froeschl has 1.40 blocks per set and Jalee Sims has provided 8.8 assists per set in LSC contests. Froeschl leads the LSC in blocks per set in conference matches, with a mark of 1.4 per set (also leads in total blocks with 42).
-Lubbock Christian is 4-0 in home matches this season, hitting .253 and holding the road teams to a .064 mark in attack percentage. Hannah Froeschl is hitting .348 with 2.50 kills per set at home. She has a team-leading 30 kills at home, with Aaliyah Gray (29), Sage Chain (27) and Jenna Lyons (26) providing balance on the attack. Lyons leads LCU at home with 2.89 kills per set. LCU has a 22-11 advantage in aces and a 28-17 advantage in blocks at home. Zoe Parker (9) and Chloe Menard (7) have combined for 16 aces in four home matches. Froeschl has 14 blocks (1.17 per set) leads LCU in total blocks at home, while teammate Kaitlyn Mayo leads in blocks per set with 1.25 (10 total blocks).
-LCU went 0-13 in the second set of matches played last season. This season, LCU has won the second set in 15 of their 17 matches (LCU is 12-3 when winning the second set). LCU is 10-0 this season when winning the third set and 11-0 when winning the opening set.  
-Last season, LCU had an attack percentage of .080, which ranked 16^th in the LSC. This season, LCU is hitting .221 and ranks fourth in the LSC and 59^th nationally. Hannah Froeschl leads LCU in hitting, ranking ninth in the LSC hitting .292. 
- The Lady Chaps also rank fifth in conference matches, hitting .204 in LSC play. Froeschl leads LCU in conference play (in hitting percentage) with a hitting percentage of .251 in LSC play.
- Jalee Sims has 10 double-doubles over the past 12 matches, which has her with 22 in her LCU career (11 on the season). She ranks fourth in the LSC in assists (486) and is sixth in assists per set (8.1).
-LCU has averaged 10.0 team blocks over their prior two matches, with Hannah Froeschl matching career highs with seven blocks in each match (has the LCU individual match high this season with seven blocks in four matches). Froeschl is third in the conference in blocks (62), with a pace of 1.03 per set, which also ranks third in the conference (60^th nationally).
-With the combination of setter-play by Sims and Kayton Genenbacher, LCU ranks ninth in assists per set (11.47). LCU's hitting percentage of .221 ranks 59^th nationally, which is their highest national ranking in an offensive category.
-The Lady Chaps rank third in the LSC in conference play in holding opponents to a hitting percentage of .132. LCU has held the opposition to a sub-.100 hitting percentage in four of their nine LSC matches.
- True freshman Kendall Mahaney ranks 10th in the LSC in digs per set (4.3) and in total digs (258). She has five matches with at least 20 digs on the season and her season and career-high mark is a 23-dig performance at Cameron.
- LCU has limited their opponents to 58 aces this season, which plays out to 0.97 per set and ranks as the second-best mark in the LSC (behind Angelo State at 0.78). They have a mark of 0.93 (aces per set allowed by their opponents) in LSC matches, which co-leads the conference.
- While LCU has served up 69 aces on the season, with aces from 10 different Lady Chaps. Zoe Parker leads LCU with 13 serving aces (Kendall Mahaney and Chloe Menard each have 11 and Hannah Froeschl has 10). On the error side, LCU opponents have served 98 errors (1.63 per set), while LCU has produced 49 serving errors.
- Aaliyah Gray leads LCU in kills with 158 kills (14th in the LSC) and was the first Lady Chap to hit the 150-mark on the season. She has 2.87 per set, which has her 14^th in the LSC.