Nov. 10, 2007

Box Score

CANYON, Texas - For the 13th time in program history, the West Texas A&M volleyball team reigns supreme over the Lone Star Conference, clinching the 2007 league title with a sweep of Central Oklahoma, 30-16, 30-26, 30-22, in the final game of the Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championships at "The Box."

The Lady Buffs, who won for the 12th straight match to improve their overall record to 32-7 on the year, will now await their postseason destination as the NCAA announced the site of the Southwest Regional tournament on Sunday. WTAMU still has a chance to host the regional tournament at "The Box" but would need a shake up at the top of the regional rankings which placed them second to Nebraska-Kearney earlier this week.

In the early portion of the match, the Lady Buffs were able to ride the strong play of freshman middle blocker Melissa Harper, who polished off three early points with kills, to build a 8-4 advantage and force an early UCO timeout.

After the Bronchos tallied a point initially out the break, sophomore Natalie Johnson went to work scoring three points by virtue of a pair of kills and a block assist to swell the WT lead to 12-5. The momentum from the early going would stay with the home team as they took game one 30-16.

Game two was much more tightly contested and after trailing much of the game, a Lauren Thedford kill made it 26-25 in favor of the Lady Buffs and warranted a timeout by the Bronchos. Out of the break it was Thedford who again found the open floor as the Lady Buffs took three of the next four points to pressure UCO head coach Jeff Bayland into calling for a break. Out of the time out, an impressive dig by Rickwartz rolled complete over the net and eluded several UCO defenders for the game-winning point.

After being unable to close out game two, the Lady Buffs took the court in game three looking for the kill. The home squad jumped out to a 13-5 lead and never looked back as they cruised to a 30-22 victory to complete their second sweep of Central Oklahoma this season.

Harper was named the MVP as she led the Lady Buffs with 48 kills (5.33 per game) throughout LSC Tournament play. Fellow Lady Buffs Katie Rickwartz and Laura Prinsen joined Harper on the all-tournament team; Rickwartz collected 135 assists (15.0 per game), 26 digs (2.89 per game) and four block assists while Prinsen tallied 43 kills (4.78 per game), 23 digs (2.56 per game), seven block assists and eight assists.