LUBBOCK, Texas (September 13, 2025) – Lubbock Christian University has two matches remaining in the MCM Elegante Chap Classic, which will conclude a stretch of 10 contests in nine days for the Lady Chaparrals. LCU faces Eastern New Mexico at 9 a.m. in a non-conference matchup between Lone Star Conference foes, before closing the event with a 2 p.m. contest against Colorado State Pueblo inside Rip Griffin Center.
| MCM ELEGANTE CHAP CLASSIC |
| OPPONENT |
LOCATION |
DAY |
TIME (CT) |
WATCH |
STATS |
| Eastern N.M. |
Rip Griffin Center |
Sat, Sept. 13 |
9:00 a.m. |
Video |
Stats |
| CSU Pueblo |
Rip Griffin Center |
Sat, Sept. 13 |
2:00 p.m. |
Video |
Stats |
TOURNAMENT SITE
The Lady Chaps are 4-4 on the season and they are 1-2 in matches played in the Chap Classic. Saturday was a long day, which witnessed LCU splitting a pair of five-set matches. They rallied to defeat Southwestern Oklahoma State 3-2, but were on the flip side against Fort Lewis College, as the Skyhawks rallied to edge LCU 3-2 (Skyhawks won the final two sets 25-23 and 15-13).
Payton Murray (36 kills) and
Lily Bickley (35 kills) are pacing the LCU attack at home. On the defensive side,
Abby Dominguez has 53 digs for a pace of 4.08 per set.
LOOKING AT ENMU
- LCU and Eastern New Mexico meet for the 66th time in their all-time series, with ENMU leading 34-31. LCU secured a 3-0 win in their last meeting on Oct. 4, 2024 (in Portales, N.M.), marking eight wins in a 10-match stretch. It also was the first match concluded in straight sets since ENMU's 3-0 victory on Oct. 1, 2013. LCU is 18-11 against ENMU all-time at home. The Lady Chaps have won the previous five meetings in Lubbock, with the last meeting in Lubbock (Nov. 8, 2023) resulting in a 3-1 LCU win. Prior to LCU's 3-0 win in the last meeting, the prior seven meetings had all ended in 3-1 results.
- Eastern New Mexico enters Saturday's matchup still seeking its first win of 2025, opening the year 0–7 with all contests played away from home. The Greyhounds dropped their first four matches at the WNMU-hosted tournament in Silver City, including setbacks to New Mexico Highlands, Sul Ross State, Fort Lewis, and the host Mustangs. Their struggles continued at the MCM Elegante Chap Classic in Lubbock, where they fell to Southwestern Oklahoma and CSU Pueblo after pushing Fort Lewis to five sets. ENMU has yet to play a true home match and is on a seven-match losing streak.
- Saturday marks Lubbock Christian's first meeting with Eastern New Mexico under new head coach Karli Bustos, who is still seeking her first victory with the Greyhounds. Hired in January 2025, Bustos came to ENMU after five seasons leading Trinidad State, where she engineered a turnaround from a 2–20 campaign in 2020-21 to a program-best 23–10 mark last fall. A native of Española, N.M., she also spent four years as an assistant at New Mexico Highlands and was a high school coach in Las Vegas, N.M., earning district coach of the year honors in 2014.
LOOKING AT CSUP
- CSU Pueblo and Lubbock Christian have met six previous times and the ThunderWolves hold a 4-2 edge in the series. The first four meetings were neutral site contests (series split 2-2), but the trend was bucked last season, as LCU participated in the Steel City Showcase (hosted by CSU Pueblo). LCU dropped the contest 3-1. CSU Pueblo has won three consecutive matches over LCU after a 3-0 win Thursday over the Lady Chaps. The series first opened in 1989 (Sept. 1, 1989) in Phoenix, Ariz., where LCU fell 2-0. LCU won in Las Vegas, N.M. 3-1 (Sept. 17, 1993) and in Canyon, Texas (Sept. 5, 2015), but fell 3-0 in the previous neutral site meeting (Sept. 3, 2016 in Denton, Texas).
- CSU Pueblo has impressed at the Chap Classic, stringing together four straight wins (3-0 in Lubbock) to climb above .500 at 4–3. After sweeping LCU in Thursday's opener, the ThunderWolves followed with a sweep of Eastern New Mexico and a four-set victory over Southwestern Oklahoma State Friday. Junior outside hitter Caelyn Gunn has paced the offense with back-to-back 16- and 17-kill outings, while libero Megan Mattingly has anchored the defense with 39 digs across two matches.
