SAN ANGELO, Texas (November 18, 2021) – The Lubbock Christian University takes the No.3-seed into the 2021 Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championships, and they make their second-ever championships appearance Thursday in the quarterfinals hosting No.6-seed DBU (Dallas Baptist). The contest is the first match in the field of play of the single-elimination event, with LCU and DBU opening serve at noon inside Junell Center on the Angelo State campus.

  

Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championship - Quarterfinals
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS
Dallas Baptist	San Angelo, Texas	Thur, Nov. 18	Noon	Video	Stats

MATCH NOTES (PDF)
 
THE IF'S:
✅ LCU WINS – An LCU win would mark LCU's first postseason win since 2016 and their first in the LSC Championship. It would also mark their first semifinal berth, in which they would play Friday at 5 p.m. against either No.2-seed UT Tyler or No.10-St. Edward's.
 
✘ LCU LOSES – An LCU loss would eliminate them from the single-elimination tournament and place them with an 0-2 all-time record at the LSC Championship. LCU would also have to await their NCAA postseason fate (NCAA announces the postseason field Monday).
 
DBU | Thursday, Nov. 18 | Noon | 
- The Lady Chaps hold a staggering 37-4 all-time record against the Patriots. LCU opened the all-time series winning the first 23 meetings dating back to 1983. DBU won final meeting of the 2017 season to mark their latest win in the series, as LCU has won five straight meetings since then (including a 3-1 win on Oct. 15 in Dallas in their previous meeting this season). The two teams have only met once in postseason play, as LCU fell to DBU on Nov. 17, 2000 at the NAIA Region VI Tournament in Houston, Texas (hosted by Houston Baptist).
- DBU was preseason picked 13th in the Lone Star Conference, with one first-place vote received. They went 3-10 last season, with a 3-9 mark in conference play. This season, DBU is 14-7 overall and they completed LSC play with a 10-7 record, which resulted in a three-way tie for sixth place. Tiebreakers led to DBU taking the No.6-seed.
- The Patriots defeated Eastern New Mexico Tuesday in the opening round of the LSC Championships 3-0 in Dallas. DBU served up seven aces in the win and advance a step into a conference tournament for the first time since 2013.
- DBU has a former Texas Tech product on their roster, as Haley Harmon has played in all 21 matches for DBU. She made two starts last season with Texas Tech and was a two-time Academic All-Big 12 selection.
- Halee Van Poppel, a Belmont transfer, ranks seventh in the NCAA in kills per set, with a conference-best 4.39 kills per set. She also ranks ninth with a conference-leading 4.78 points per set.
 
LADY CHAP NOTES
- LCU opened conference play with their best conference start since 2018 (6-0 start) and completed LSC play this season with a 14-3 conference mark and garnered the No.3-seed for the LSC Championships. They enter Thursday's play 19-7 overall, which is a 16-win turnaround from their 3-10 record last season.

- The Lady Chaps are in the quarterfinals of the LSC Championships for the first time. They are making their second LSC Championships appearance (third season in the LSC) and are 0-1 all-time in the championships. They fell to Texas Woman's 3-0 at home in 2019. LCU seeks to end a four-match losing streak in postseason play, as their last postseason was against St. Edward's on Nov.18, 2016 in the Heartland Conference Tournament in Fort Smith, Ark.

- The NCAA released their third region rankings of the NCAA Division II South Central Region, and LCU remains the No.7-seed for a second consecutive week (they were No.9 in the first rankings released). For LCU to qualify for their first NCAA Division II postseason tournament berth, they would have to receive an "automatic qualifier" by winning the LSC Championship or finish as one of six at-large berths (finish in the top eight in the region rankings, as two gain automatic berths from their respective conference and the other six receive at-large berths).

- Of the Lady Chaps seven losses on the season, four are against nationally ranked programs. On Nov. 18, the Lady Chaps faced a ranked opponent (No.25 West Texas A&M) for a fifth time this season, and produced a 3-2 win to improve to 1-4 against AVCA Top-25 nationally ranked programs this season.

- The Lady Chaps provided balance in conference play, as Hannah Froeschl (146), Aaliyah Gray (144), Sage Chain (138) and Jenna Lyons (134) each had over 130 kills in LSC play. Zoe Parker's 17 aces, Kendall Mahaney's 4.22 digs per set, Froeschl's has 1.17 blocks per set and Jalee Sims' 9.24 assists per set each led LCU in LSC contests. Froeschl ranks second in the LSC in blocks in conference matches, with a mark of 74 (second in blocks per set at 1.17). LCU finished ranking second the LSC in conference matches, averaging 2.38 blocks per set (behind 2.47 by West Texas A&M).

- Lubbock Christian went 8-1 in home matches this season, hitting .221 and holding the road teams to a .137 mark in attack percentage. Hannah Froeschl hit .323 with 2.53 kills per set at home. Sage Chain led LCU at home with 88 kills, with Froeschl (86), Jenna Lyons (76) and Aaliyah Gray (62) providing balance on the attack. Lyons led LCU at home with 2.81 kills per set. LCU had a 43-31 advantage in aces and a 78-66 advantage in blocks at home. Zoe Parker (12) and Chloe Menard (11) combined for 23 aces in nine home matches. Chain (40, 1.18 per set) and Froeschl (30, 0.88 per set) led LCU in total blocks at home.

- LCU went 0-13 in the second set of matches played last season. This season, LCU has won the second set in 20 of their 26 matches (LCU is 16-4 when winning the second set). LCU is 13-0 when winning the opening set and 15-0 this season when winning the third set.  

- Last season, LCU had an attack percentage of .080, which ranked 16^th in the LSC. This season, LCU is hitting .214 and ranks fifth in the LSC and 77^th nationally. Hannah Froeschl leads LCU in hitting, ranking 12th in the LSC hitting .289. 

- Jalee Sims has 15 double-doubles over the past 22 matches, which has her with 26 in her LCU career (16 on the season). She ranks fourth in the LSC in assists (827) and is sixth in assists per set (8.71). She eclipsed the 1,000 mark in career assists at Western New Mexico (Oct. 28).

- LCU has 96 team blocks over the prior 10 matches, which has them second in the LSC in total blocks (208) and third in blocks per set (2.14 per set, ranking 42^nd nationally). Sage Chain is averaging 4.8 blocks per match in the span, including a career-high nine-block outing against Texas A&M-Commerce, which is the best mark by a Lady Chaps member this season. She is second on the squad and is fourth in the LSC with 94 blocks (third in blocks per set 0.97). Hannah Froeschl leads LCU in blocks (98, second in LSC) and in blocks per set (1.01, second in LSC).

-With the combination of setter-play by Jalee Sims and Kayton Genenbacher, LCU ranks seventh in the conference assists per set (11.42).

-The Lady Chaps finished ranking third in the LSC in conference play in holding opponents to a hitting percentage of .155. LCU held the opposition to a sub-.100 hitting percentage in five of their 17 LSC matches.

- True freshman Kendall Mahaney ranks 11th in the LSC in digs per set (4.30) and sixth in total digs (417). She has eight matches with at least 20 digs on the season and her season and career-high mark is a 26-dig performance she recorded against Texas A&M-Commerce.

- LCU has limited their opponents to 98 aces this season, which plays out to 1.01 per set and ranks as the second-best mark in the LSC (behind Angelo State at 0.85). They produced a mark of 1.02 (aces per set allowed by their opponents) in LSC matches, which ranked third in the conference. They have held their opponents without an ace in two matches this season.

- The Lady Chaps have served up 99 aces on the season, with aces from 10 different Lady Chaps.  Chloe Menard leads LCU with 19 aces, with Zoe Parker and Kendall Mahaney each with 18, and Hannah Froeschl (14) not far behind. Mady McCully is also in double figures in ace (11). On the error side, LCU opponents have served 134 errors (1.38 per set), while LCU has produced 75 serving errors.

- Aaliyah Gray, another true freshman, leads LCU in kills per set with a rate of 2.65 per set, which has her 20^th in the LSC in the category. Jenna Lyons follows her, 22^nd in the LSC, with a rate of 2.51 per set. Gray is second on the squad in overall kills with 233, which is two behind Froeschl (235).
 
LSC POSTSEASON HONORS
First Team All-LSC
Hannah Froeschl
Jalee Sims 
 
Second Team All-LSC
Sage Chain 
 
All-Freshman Team
Aaliyah Gray
Kendall Mahaney 
 
All-Academic
Jalee Sims
 
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