CANYON, Texas (November 21, 2024) – The No.8-seeded Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaps look to embrace the underdog role in the Lone Star Conference Championship quarterfinals on Thursday at 5 p.m. inside WTAMU Fieldhouse ("The Box"). They'll face the tournament's top-seeded and host team, No.5 West Texas A&M, in their first LSC postseason appearance since 2021. This "Rivalry on the Range" showdown marks the first-ever postseason clash between the two rivals.
 

LSC VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	VIDEO	RADIO	STATS
West Texas A&M	Canyon, Texas	Thur., Nov. 21	5 p.m.	Watch	None	Stats

 
LOOKING AT WTAMU
- The "Rivalry on the Range" volleyball series will feature its 53rd meeting between LCU and West Texas A&M Thursday, but it will mark their first-ever postseason meeting. The Lady Buffs lead the series with a 37-14-1 record, having won the past four meetings and seven of the last eight. LCU seeks to break a seven-match losing streak in Canyon, where they hold a 5-21 record and last won on Sept. 5, 2015.

- West Texas A&M, ranked No. 5 in the nation by the AVCA, has enjoyed a dominant 2024 season, compiling a 23-3 overall record and an unblemished 16-0 mark in Lone Star Conference play to secure the top seed in the LSC Championships. The Lady Buffs have been nearly unbeatable at home with an 11-1 record inside WTAMU Fieldhouse ("The Box") and have gone undefeated in true road matches (10-0). Riding a 17-match winning streak, WT's only losses came in non-conference play against Ferris State, Missouri-St. Louis, and Angelo State.

- The Lady Buffs are coming off a season (2023) in which they were a win away from consecutive national titles, as they were the national finalist with a 33-4 record. They entered this season as the LSC Preseason Poll favorites.

- For the first time since the 2019 season, the Lady Buffs are under the guidance of a new head coach as Brittany Harry was named the 16th leader of WT Volleyball. She previously was at Texas A&M International, where she was the 2022 LSC Coach of the Year. Harry replaces Kendra Potts, who is now at Grand Canyon.

- The West Texas A&M Lady Buffs continue to excel in national and conference volleyball rankings, particularly in blocking and hitting efficiency. WTAMU ranks 33rd nationally and second in the Lone Star Conference in blocks per set (2.32), while leading the conference and sitting sixth nationally in hitting percentage at .279. Individually, Taytum Stow dominates as the conference leader in blocks per set (1.28), ranking 21st nationally. In hitting percentage, Stow is fourth in the conference at .353, with teammate Angelina Oliver following in sixth at .345. Defensively, Bryli Contreras has been impactful, ranking sixth in the conference in digs per set (4.54) and seventh in total digs (422).

LADY CHAP NOTES
- Lubbock Christian enters Thursday's match with a 13-13 overall record and went 9-7 in Lone Star Conference play. They finished in a four-way tie for sixth place in the LSC standings, but tiebreakers have them as the No.8-seed for the tournament. They played their first 14 matches of the season away from home (includes seven neutral site matches…4-3) and they went 5-3 in their limited home play (their eight home matches tied Sul Ross for the fewest total of home matches).

- LCU stands out in the attacks per set category, entering Thursday averaging 37.6 attacks (per set), which ranks sixth in the Lone Star Conference and 59^th nationally. Kiana Fallaha and Lily Bickley are at the forefront, contributing significantly to this statistic. Fallaha ranks third in the conference with 11.0 attacks per set (27^th nationally) and has 854 total attacks (11th in the conference) despite missing six matches. Overall, LCU's total attacks amount to 3,836, which is fifth in the conference.

- This season marks LCU's fourth season under coach Keith Giboney. The Lady Chaps seventh head coach in program history has jumped into his 20th year of NCAA coaching. Giboney, who has four NCAA Tournament appearances and seven conference titles on his resume, surpassed 400 coaching victories in his first season with LCU and has a career coaching mark of 445-217. The Chaps head coach entered the season as the 29th best-active head coach in win percentage (.679) and as the 27th best-active head coach in victories (432). He has the third-highest win total of head coaches with less than 20 years of head coaching experience.

- Setter Kayton Genenbacher currently sits seventh all-time in LCU's career record books for assists with 3,215 (25^th actively among NCAA Division II assist leaders). On Nov.2 in Austin, Texas, she became the seventh Lady Chaps member in program history to reach 3,000 assists, and it came on the match-point of a 3-2 win over St. Edward's. Genenbacher ranks 12^th nationally in assists per set with an average of 11.2 which is second in the Lone Star Conference. She has amassed a total of 1,137 assists this season (leads the LSC and is seventh nationally). Saturday in the regular season finale against Dallas Baptist, she recorded 73 assists, which matches the highest mark by a NCAA Division II setter this season and a mark that has not been surpassed in Division II since Clarion's London Fuller produced 83 since on Sept. 9, 2022. 
 
-The Lady Chaps have shown potential in several key statistical categories within the Lone Star Conference and at the national level. Notably, the team's digs per set average of 15.9 ranks eighth in the conference, highlighting a solid defensive effort, led by Leddy Rae Guinn (10^th in LSC with 3.9 digs per set). On the offensive side, the team's kills per set average of 13.8 is fifth in the conference, with Lily Bickley (seventh in LSC in points per set, 4.0) and Kiana Fallaha (13^th in points per set, 3.64) leading the way in scoring (points). Payton Murray has also been on display with double-figure kill efforts in 13 of the prior 17 matches and is averaging 2.9 kills per set over the 17-match span.
 
- LCU made notable strides in conference play. Kayton Genenbacher was a standout, averaging 11.9 assists per set (led the LSC), contributing a total of 738 assists in 16 matches (led the LSC). Genenbacher's 11.9 assists per set is the highest total in the LSC for conference play since Angelo State's Maggi Jo Keffury had 12.2 assists per conference match in 2015, and her 738 assists are the most in a conference single-season since Texas Woman's Kate Ranes had 872 in 2018. Lily Bickley supported the offense with 219 kills (fifth in LSC), with Payton Murray (192, 12th in LSC) and Bryleigh Schweer (158, 20^th in LSC) providing a balance attack (14.3 kills per set for LCU to ranking fifth in the LSC, and ranking sixth in hitting with a mark of .239). Bickley led in hitting (.362, sixth in LSC) and points per set (4.40, fifth in LSC). Defensively, Leddy Rae Guinn led LCU with an average of 4.2 digs per set (ninth in LSC).
 
- The Lady Chaps are in the quarterfinals of the LSC Championships for the second time and are making their third LSC Championships appearance (sixth season in the LSC) and are 1-2 all-time in the championships. Their last LSC Championship appearance was in 2021 as the No.3-seed. That season, they defeated No.6-seed Dallas Baptist, but fell to No.10-seed St. Edward's. The 2021 tournament was the final 12-team event (it has been an eight-team event since). None of the current members of the Lady Chaps participated in the 2021 event. Historically, Sage Chain is their LSC postseason leader in kills (20) and blocks (11), and Jalee Sims is their leader in assists (60, 6.7 per set).

- All remaining regular season scheduled matches can be watched via live streaming on FloCollege, which has recently partnered with the Lone Star Conference to offer a subscription-based service that provides live video coverage. A subscription to FloCollege (rebranded from FloSports) gives you access to all content on their platform. For more details, visit www.lcuchaps.com/live.