Lady Buffs down Emporia State in Topeka, Kan.

The West Texas A&M Lady Buffs volleyball team came back from a 2-0 hole to take a 3-2 win over the Emporia State Hornets on Friday at the Holiday Inn Lady Blues Fall Classic in Topeka, Kan.

The Lady Buffs (16-2, 4-0 Lone Star Conference) came into the South Central Region crossover tournament tied nationally at No. 6 with the Hornets (14-2, 4-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association). After dropping the first two games 25-22, 31-29, WT took the final three 25-15, 25-20, 15-13.

Special thanks to LadyBuffVolleyball.com for getting me the scores ASAP this afternoon.

Most important weekend of regular season for Lady Buffs?

The No. 6 (tied) WT volleyball team (15-2, 4-0 Lone Star Conference) is playing well enough to go perfect in the LSC again, so this weekend's Holiday Inn Lady Blues Regional Crossover Invitational may be the biggest round of matches WT will play during the regular season.

The Lady Buffs are slated to play No. 6 (tied) Emporia State, No. 9 host school Washburn and No. 20 Truman State. Not only do the results from this weekend in Topeka, Kan., have a profound impact on the national rankings, they will make or break WT's chances of hosting the South Central Regional tournament.

All of the teams in this tournament are in the South Central Regional, and if the Lady Buffs can come back with three or four wins this weekend, they will be the favorite to host, likely at the First United Bank Center in Canyon.

Also of note this weekend, new WT coach Jason Skoch was most recently from Truman State. He said there may be 400 fans there to watch him at his new school, and that he has to make sure not to get too emotional because of his previous involvement with a team he took to the Final Four.

Lady Buffs still looking ahead

It's not that the WT volleyball team is looking past opponents. But the No. 7 Lady Buffs are definitely worried more about the quality of their victories than just winning.

And with that comes an overall focus on making it deep -- Elite Eight and National Championship deep -- into the NCAA Division II postseason.

So as they put down more and more Lone Star conference teams, don't expect WT to be too happy or for their intense, perfection driven coach Jason Skoch, to give them a whole lot of praise.

And on a personal note, that makes my job a bit difficult. It's not easy to write about a conference sweep with nothing but critical quotes from Coach Skoch.

Lady Buffs begin LSC season with sweep of Abilene Christian

The No. 7 Lady Buffs (12-2, 1-0 LSC) swept ACU in pretty convincing fashion. Though the third game was a come-from-behind 25-20 win, WT looked dominant against the preseason No. 2 in the conference.

Middle blockers Lauren Purdy and Melissa Harper led WT's offense, putting up 11 and 10 kills, respectively. The Lady Buffs were also superb on defense, putting together long rallies en route to the convincing conference and South Central region win.

Coach Jason Skoch was surprisingly upbeat and complimentary after the win, which hasn't happened much in his 14-match tenure as WT's head coach. He's still not satisfied, though, and was talking strategy with palyers as I was finishing up my story for Friday's paper at about 9:10 p.m.

The Lady Buffs play Angelo State on Saturday at 2 p.m. in The Box.

Volleyball coach looking to middle of the year for great play

The No. 7 Lady Buffs (7-2) are good, but they're not as good as they could be.

At least, that's how WT coach Jason Skoch tells it. He said Tuesday that, though practice is getting better after the weekend's losses, the team is still working out some mental flaws. And when those get ironed out, the sky's the limit for this squad.

"We're really not consistent and focused right now," Skoch said. "I think some of us don't have a sense of urgency right now.

"I'm looking to the middle of the season. I think we're going to peak at just the right time."

Lady Buffs drop to No. 7 in AVCA D-II poll

WT (7-2) dropped four spots to No. 7 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Top 25 poll, released Monday.

The Lady Buffs lost two matches over the weekend at the Colorado Premier Classic in Denver, to Central Missouri and Metro State College - the tournament's host school.

Lady Buffs lose second match of season in Denver

The Lady Buffs (7-2) dropped their final match of the Colorado Premier Classic in Denver to No. 23 Metro State College (7-1) in another five-set contest.

WT also took a 1-0 lead in the match. Had they won, the Lady Buffs would have at least gotten out of the state with a silver-bracket title.

As it stands, Tuesday's press availability with coach Jason Sckoch at the Big Texan likely won't be lighthearted like it was last week.

Linescore
No. 23 Metro State College def. No. 3 West Texas A&M 22-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 15-10

WT—Kills: Laura Prinsen 18, Natalie Johnson 8. Blocks: Melissa Harper 2. Digs: Lauren Thedford 18, Lauren Beville 17. Assists: Katie Rickwartz 38, Prinsen 4. Aces: Thedford 1, Prinsen 1.

MSC—Kills: Bri Morley 19, Emily Greenhalgh 14. Blocks: Julie Causseaux 1, Amy Watanabe 1. Digs: Watanabe 33, Ngoc Phan 15. Assists: Gabrielle Curtis 61, Lisa Jones 3. Aces: Curtis 2, Jones 2. Amanda Cook 2.

Records: West Texas A&M 7-2. Metro State College 7-1.

Lady Buffs drop first match of season to No. 12 Central Missouri

WT (6-1) took a two-set lead Friday night at the Colorado Premier Challenge but let No. 12 Central Missouri (5-1) come back to take the 3-2 win.

The No. 3 Lady Buffs had four players reach double-digit kills in the loss, including a team-leading effort of 13 by junior outside hitter Lauren Thedford. WT had 26 total blocks, including 10 assists by Lauren Purdy.

WT coach Jason Skoch is likely not happy with the Lady Buffs letting a lower-ranked team come back to beat them.

The Lady Buffs continue in Denver in bracket play today with their first match at 9:30 a.m. against No. 8 Southwest Minnesota State.

Linescore
No. 12 Central Missouri def. No. 3 West Texas A&M 24-26, 15-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-11

UCM--Kills: Allie Huffman 18, Abby Gruenbacher 14. Blocks: Jennifer Williams 1, Paula Harris 1, Bradye Peniston 1. Digs: Rachel Fister 25, Kelsey Ortwerth 20. Assists: Caitlin Pankratz 50. Aces: Pankratz 2, Peniston 2.

WT--Kills: Lauren Thedford 13, Natalie Johnson 11. Blocks: Lauren Purdy 1, Melissa Harper 1. Digs: Lauren Beville 25, Katie Rickwartz 19. Assists: Rickwartz 36, Laura Prinsen 16. Aces: Prinsen 1, Beville 1.

Records: WT 6-1, UCM 5-1

Lady Buffs win close one against Lewis Universtiy in Denver

The No. 3 WT volleyball team (6-0) was pushed to five sets for the first time this season during the Colorado Premier Tournament in Denver.

Nineteenth-ranked Lewis University (3-2) won the second and fourth sets, 25-15, 25-20. The Lady Buffs took care of the fifth set 15-11 to stay undefeated on the season and beat their third nationally ranked team of the season.

WT faces another ranked team, No. 12 Central Missouri, tonight at 8:30.

Linescore
No. 3 West Texas A&M def. No. 19 Lewis University 25-20, 15-25, 25-17, 20-25, 15-11

Lewis—Kills: Lauren Seliga 22, Sarah deBuhr, 11. Blocks: Stephanie Sagat 1, Kim Richards 1, deBuhr 1. Digs: Seliga 13, Kelly McConkey 11. Assists: Rachel Ruedi 55. Aces: McConkey 2, Seliga 1, Richards 1, Ruedi 1, Ashlee Lindish 1.

WT—Kills: Laura Prinsen 17, Lauren Thedford 14. Blocks: Melissa Harper 2. Digs: Lauren Beville 14, Katie Rickwartz 12. Assists: Rickwartz 45, Prinsen 5. Aces: Prinsen 4, Rickwartz 1, Beville 1.

Records: Lewis 3-2, West Texas A&M 6-0.

Lady Buffs inch up AVCA poll

The Lady Buffs moved up to No. 3 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll, released today.

WT (5-0) beat then-No. 19 Nova Southeastern and then-No. 5 Grand Valley State last week in their BritKare Lady Buff Classic en route to a perfect opening weekend.

Grand Valley State is now at No. 6, while Nova Southeastern moved up to No. 16.

The Lady Buffs face two more ranked teams this weekend in the Colorado Premier Tournament in Denver - No. 19 Lewis University and No. 12 Central Missouri. If WT can get past those two, it has a chance to face the No. 1 team, Concordia-St. Paul, in the championship match.

Volleyball wins BritKare Lady Buff Classic

The Lady Buffs went undefeated in their own tournament, starting the season a perfect 5-0 after beating Western New Mexico and Lubbock Christian on Saturday.

Senior right side hitter Laura Prinsen was named tournament MVP, while senior MB Melissa Harper and senior setter Katie Rickwartz made the all-tournament team.

Volleyball rebounds to beat Western New Mexico 3-1

The Lady Buffs (4-0) won their first match of Saturday's final round of matches in the BritKare Lady Buffs Classic at The Box.

WT beat Western New Mexico 3-1, rebounding from the team's first dropped set of the season.

The Lady Buffs play Lubbock Christian at 3 p.m. this afternoon to wrap up the tournament.

Line Score
West Texas A&M def. Western New Mexico 25-9, 25-9, 22-25, 25-18

WNM—Kills: Natali Murdock 12, Siona Verhulsdonk 7. Blocks: Verhulsdonk 1, Jovan Falemalu 1. Digs: Marilee Frost 13, Ellen East 9. Assists: East 24. Aces: East 2, Murdock 1, JoBeth Erling 1.

WT—Kills: Laura Prinsen 16, Lauren Thedford 12. Blocks: Kirsten McCowan 2. Digs: Lauren Beville 17, Sophie McBride 13, Thedford 13. Assists: Katie Rickwartz 44, Erika Dupree 4. Aces: Rickwartz 2, Lauren Purdy 1, McBride 1.

Records: WNM 1-2, WT 4-0.

Volleyball drops first set of the young season

The Lady Buffs lost the third set of their match with Western New Mexico on Saturday, 22-25.

WT got way down early, falling into a 1-11 hole. Coach Jason Skoch had the court nearly full of underclassmen (Fr. starting libero Lauren Beville doesn't count) during that WNM run. The Lady Buffs made a good run at it, but even the starters were making some mistakes when they could have come back to close out their fourth sweep of the season.

"I tried giving (the underclassmen) an opportunity, and they didn't take advantage of it," Skoch said. "We have to get them in there. They earned it, they've been working hard in practice. It's good for them to see in a game situation that they still have stuff to grow on."

Matches running late at The Box

UT-Permian Basin nearly beat No. 19 Nova Southeastern in the early game at The Box, pushing the Lady Falcons to five sets. That match ended at about 11:05 a.m., so now WT's match with Western New Mexico will start at around 11:30.

NOTE: Play began at about 11:45.

Volleyball sweeps No. 4 Grand Valley State

The No. 5 Lady Buffs (3-0) took care of the No. 4 Lakers by coming back to win sets and looking more confident each time.

They did it in front of a huge crowd at The Box. The attendance on the box score says 1,623 people showed up to watch the game. The crowd included a rowdy student section and the entire Grand Valley State football team.

As for the volleyball girls, they did their part taking care of the visiting Lakers. Lauren "the threat" Thedford led the team with 13 kills, while Melissa Harper-ized 11 balls to help WT stay perfect on the young season.

The trick now, he said, will be making sure they don't have a let down during tomorrow's games with Western New Mexico (11 a.m.) and Lubbock Christian (3 p.m.), as neither should be on the same level as Grand Valley State (or Nova Southeastern, who they played earlier Friday).

New WT coach Jason Skoch wasn't as impressed as I was with the wins. But, he said he'd take a sloppy win over perennial NCAA D-II contender GVS.

And if the Lady Buffs can do this when they aren't playing as smoothly as they should ...

Soccer Sweep

I spent my afternoon watching soccer at West Texas A&M. The Lady Buffs beat New Mexico Highlands 3-0 at the Pitch while the Buffs traveled to Austin and beat St. Edward's 3-0.

The Pitch, in all its glory, has had yet another change. Two seasons ago there was one big bleacher stationed in front of the press box. Last season, chairs lined the sideline opposite the teams. Now WT is back to the bleachers, only this time, it is two small sets split by the press box. Seats aren't as plentiful this season so bring a lawn chair and park in the shade.

While watching the women's game I noticed something that was sorely missing last season, consistency in the attacking game. The Lady Buffs set up their shots and got consistent pressure, the game was never in doubt. On several occasions WT was able to get behind the Highland defenders to get good looks at the goal. If the Lady Buffs look anything like this for the rest of the season, their hope of advancing past the first round of the NCAA Division II tournament will become a reality.