SILVER CITY, N.M. (November 11, 2023) --Unfortunately for Lubbock Christian University, their volleyball match at Western New Mexico served as one last time for the 2023 squad to play together one last time. Prior to the match, they learned Texas A&M International upset West Texas A&M and clinched the final LSC Championship berth (top eight teams in the standings). Regardless, they enjoyed their last time together for the 2023 season, as they won in straight sets (25-22, 25-21, 25-20) to take down the Western New Mexico Mustangs Saturday on the road at Drag's Court. It marks the second straight season LCU finds themselves on the outside looking in. Last season they finished tied for eighth place in the standings, but the tiebreaker was not on their favor. This season, LCU's LSC record of 9-7 marks them as the first conference-winning team to not qualify for the conference tournament since conference tournament formats changed in 2006.
The victory moved the Lady Chaps' overall record to 17-9 to finish the season. A big improvement from their 11-16 record last season.
Lily Bickley finished with 13 kills on the day to lead the Lady Chaps offense while finishing with a hitting percentage of .500. They received 12 digs from Chloe Menard along with five blocks from Kalli Dalland to lead them defensively. The two (Menard and Dalland) were playing in their final contests as members of the Lady Chaps.
Game Notes
» Ramsey Clark had a match-high two aces in the win, which matched the Freshman's career high.
» Lily Bickley had a team-high 13 kills for Lubbock Christian for her 15th match of at least 10 kills this season.
» Lubbock Christian got a team-high 12 digs from Chloe Menard. The libero, playing in her first-ever season at libero, finished with 345 digs on the season.
» Lubbock Christian attackers were helped by a match-high 34 assists from Kayton Genenbacher. She finished with a total of 992 on the season. The junior has 2,078 in her career (12th in program history).
» LCU's Kalli Dalland closed out the season with 113 blocks and 99 block-assists. Her career ends with 219 total blocks over 77 career matches.
» The Lady Chaps closed out their road slate with a 6-3 road record on the season.
» LCU's seventh consecutive win in the all-time series has them leading the all-time series against WNMU, as LCU is now 8-7 all-time against the Mustangs and 3-1 all-time against them in Silver City.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Lady Chaps survived a back-and-forth first set to win 25-22 in a stanza that featured three lead changes and was tied 10 times. Neither team led by more than three points in the match. Bickley paced LCU with five kills int he set.
SET 2 | Lubbock Christian won the second set 25-21 to promptly grab a 2-0 lead. The Lady Chaps grabbed control of the set lead early on at 4-3 and never trailed. Lubbock Christian led by as many as eight points at 20-12 before finishing off the set, totaling 15 kills. Genenbacher assisted on 14 of the 15 kills.
SET 3 | Lubbock Christian finished off the match in a 3-0 sweep after taking the third set. The Lady Chaps claimed the third set 25-20. Lubbock Christian took the lead for good at 15-14 in a set that showcased four lead changes before the Lady Chaps took over in the second half of the stanza. LCU closed the match on an 8-3 run. Bickley (5) and Payton Murray (4) combined for nine kills for the Lady Chaps.
This article created using technology provided by Data Skrive.
