Lady Chaps Open 2021 Season at Eagles Invitational
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS
St. Mary's	Oklahoma City	Fri, Sept. 3	10 a.m.	Video	Stats
Oklahoma Christian	Oklahoma City	Fri, Sept. 3	7 p.m.	Video	Stats
Bentley	Oklahoma City	Sat, Sept. 4	10 a.m.	Video	Stats
Game Notes (PDF)

OKLAHOMA CITY (September 3, 2021) – The Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaparrals volleyball team opens their 43^rd season in program history and the first under head coach Keith Giboney Friday, as they have a trio of matches at the Eagles Invitational, hosted by Oklahoma Christian inside The Eagles' Nest. LCU plays two of their three weekend matches on Friday, and each of Friday's matches are against Lone Star Conference foes (St. Mary's and Oklahoma Christian), but counting as non-conference tilts. Saturday, LCU will face Bentley before returning home.  
 
StMU | Friday, Sept. 3 | 10 a.m. | 
- St. Mary's holds a 13-11 advantage in the all-time series dating back to 1980. The Lady Chaps had a six-match win-streak against the Rattlers, until falling all three meetings during the 2017 season. LCU has bounced back to win each of the previous three meetings and has now won nine of the last 12 meetings in the series. Friday's class will mark the 12^th all-time meeting between the two programs on a neutral site (nearly half of the all-time series, as StMU is 9-2 in those matches). The meeting is the first since LCU defeated StMU 3-2 on Nov. 8, 2019, which was a game StMU hosted at Incarnate Word's campus in San Antonio, Texas.  
- StMU went 2-10 last season (all in LSC play). Just as LCU closed last season falling in their last nine matches played, StMU closed out their season falling in their last 10 matches played.
- The Rattlers are preseason picked No.15 in the Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll.
- The matchup between LCU and StMU places a meeting between head coaches in their first season with their respective program. Laura Ulrich was named the 11th head coach in St. Mary's history in May and joins the Rattlers from Texas Woman's, where she was an assistant coach for four seasons.
- Julia Deais is a senior middle blocker, who was named to the Lone Star All-Conference team last season after hitting a team-leading .233. She was second on the team with 2.31 kills per set and led the club with 13 aces and 44 total blocks.
 
OC | Friday, Sept. 3 | 7 p.m. | 
- LCU and the Eagles have not faced each other in volleyball since October 16, 1980, as the Lady Chaps claimed a 3-0 win in Oklahoma City at "The Barn" (now the Dave Smith Athletic Center). The Lady Chaps are 2-0 all-time, as they won the first meeting 2-0 on Oct. 4, 1979. Each meeting was at OC.  
- OC is in their second season of having volleyball since their reinstatement of the program. Last season, OC went 6-12 and it was their first season of play since fall 1983. They went 2-6 at home last season.
- The Eagles are preseason picked No.12 in the Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll.
- OC head coach Jason Skoch is in his first season coaching the Eagles. Skoch is a familiar coaching foe of LCU, as he served as head coach of West Texas A&M from 2009-2018 and went 11-3 against LCU. LCU head coach Keith Giboney (384) and Skoch (437) have combined for 821 wins, but the two coaches have never faced each other.
- The Eagles roster is comprised of 21 players, which is an above normal amount, and 17 of the players are either true freshman or freshman receiving a second playing season (last season was their first season of collegiate playing experience).
 
Bentley | Saturday, Sept. 4 | 10 a.m. | 
- LCU and Bentley are scheduled to meet for the second time in program history. Bentley is 1-0 in the all-time series, as they defeated LCU 3-1 in 2015 in Kingsville, Texas (neutral site match).  
- Massachusetts-based Bentley is preseason picked second in the Northeast-10 Preseason Poll. Bentley captured the 2019 Northeast-10 championships, both regular season and tournament.
- COVID canceled Bentley's 2020 season.
- The Falcons have five of their 14 members back from their 2019 squad. Included in the mix is 2019 Northeast-10 Rookie of the Year Ingrid Murphy.
- Bentley's top statistic in 2019, their last playing season, was ranking 21^st in opposition hitting percentage, holding opponents to a .133 hitting mark on the season.
 
LADY CHAP NOTES
- LCU enters the season with a No.14 Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll ranking. The low ranking is no surprise with the challenges endured in a COVID-shortened 2020 season, which resulted in LCU playing a 13-match season in the spring of 2021. LCU opened last season 3-1, but then injuries and coaching changes led to LCU dropping their final nine matches of the season to finish 3-10 overall and 2-10 in the LSC. All conference matches were divisional matches, and LCU was in the West Division, which saw Angelo State, UT Permian Basin and West Texas A&M each making the quarterfinals of the LSC Championships (Angelo State won the tournament).
-Transitioning to 2021, LCU enters the season without two-time All-Conference selection Avery Moore and digs leader Maddie DeGuire, who each graduated. The 2020 edition of the Lady Chaps featured a young crop, and with student-athletes not using a season of eligibility (COVID) in 2020, the squad remains young. The 2021 squad consists of 17 individuals, and mixing in seven new additions, there are 14 players with at least three seasons of athletic eligibility remaining.
-The only player with one season of athletic eligibility remaining is graduate transfer Hannah Froeschl. The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi transfer is a Southland Conference All-Tournament Team selection and 2017 Conference USA All-Freshman team member. Her older sister, Ariel, is a former LCU volleyball player.  
-Froeschl reunites with former TAMUC teammate Jenna Lyons, who led LCU last season with 98 kills (her first season with LCU). LCU's lone All-Conference selection last season was setter Jalee Sims. The senior setter (two seasons of athletic eligibility remaining) from Amarillo, Texas ranked fifth in LSC in assists per set (7.87) and 11th in digs (4.2). Sims was the first player last season to have at least 30 assists and 30 digs in the same match in NCAA Division II.
-This season marks LCU's first season under head coach Keith Giboney. The Lady Chaps seventh head coach in program history brings 16 years of NCAA coaching experience. Giboney, who has four NCAA Tournament appearances and seven conference titles on his resume, previously coached at Alabama Huntsville and has a career coaching mark of 384-171. Keith and assistant coach Michal, his wife and former LCU volleyball player, are leading a team of 17 student-athletes all from Texas. It marks the first time in LCU volleyball history in which every player is a Texas product.
-Friday opens a 26-match season for 2021. LCU will play 17 conference matches, playing each LSC program once, beginning with their home opener Sept. 17 against Arkansas – Fort Smith. The Lady Chaps play nine home matches, consisting of eight LSC matches and one non-conference tilt. LCU plays their first eight matches away from home.
- LCU is 28-14 all-time in season openers and has won 10 of their 13 prior season openers (LCU defeated Wayland Baptist 3-1 in last season's opener, which was in Lubbock).