SAN ANGELO – Angelo State walked off the Stephens Arena court for the final time this season disappointed knowing that it allowed a Lone Star Conference Championship tournament title to escape, but also aware that its season will go on.

The Belles led the match 2-1 through three sets and were up 17-11 in the fourth set, but couldn't stop West Texas A&M's momentum as the Lady Buffs secured their seventh straight tournament title with a 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 18-25, 25-22, 15-12) win over ASU on Saturday at the Junell Center. WT earns the LSC's automatic NCAA Division II bid to the postseason, but the Belles, who won their first LSC regular-season championship since 1992 this season, are also destined for an at-large bid.

“It's one game and we're going on,” ASU junior Maddie Huth said. “Coach told us that this didn't end our season, and that's true. We have more to play for.”

Huth led Angelo State in the match with a career-high 23 kills, while Alex Woolsey added 59 assists and Emily Booth had 12 kills and a career-high nine blocks. The three Belles were named to the All-Tournament team following the match. Shelbi Goode had 13 kills and Leah McWilliams contributed another 12, while Shelby Wilt had 25 digs and Haley Bianco added 24 digs. Arielle Bond had six blocks and three kills.

“We had opportunities to finish them off and we didn't take advantage of them,” ASU head coach Chuck Waddington said. “They put their foot on the gas and we let off. We gave them a window of opportunity and they seized it. That's what championship teams do.”

West Texas A&M won its 14th tournament title with the win and are now 14-1 in tournament finals. ASU, which finished the season with a 13-1 record at home, fell to 6-4 in tournament final matches and are now 32-11 all-time in LSC tournament play.

Erin Dougherty, who was named the tournament's MVP, had 17 kills and two blocks against the Belles, while Stormi Lancaster added 18 kills and seven assists. Lacy Hayes led WT with 56 assists.

The Belles will now await the NCAA Division II selection which will take place at 9 p.m. on Sunday.

“We have to learn something from today,” Waddington said. “This is disappointing, especially because we felt like it was in our grasp and it gets away from you. Our season is not over and we have opportunities to do some great things.”

Milestones achieved: Alex Woolsey went over 5,000 assists in her career in the match and now has
5,049... Maddie Huth's effort pushed her kill total to 718.