October 13, 1997
For Immediate Release
Contact: Judy Willson, SID
505.562.4309 or 356-4755

Tuesday, October 14
Eastern New Mexico at West Texas A&M University 6:00 pm
WTAMU Fieldhouse, Canyon, Texas

Friday, October 17
Texas Woman's University at Eastern New Mexico 7:00 pm
Greyhound Arena, Portales, N.M.

Saturday, October 18
Texas A&M University-Commerce at Eastern New Mexico 2:00 pm
Greyhound Arena, Portales, N.M.

Tuesday, October 21
Eastern New Mexico at New Mexico Highlands University 7:00 pm
Wilson Complex, Las Vegas, N.M.

The Zias (11-10, 3-3 LSC South)...toughed out another long road trip for the third weekend in a row. Eastern New Mexico came out of the Drury Classic with a 1-3 record. Senior setter Stacey Estlund (Clarkston, Wash.) accumulated 148 more assists in the 14 games played by the Zias.

ENMU lost to Truman State on Friday, 3-0. Senior Tara Dougherty (RS, Clovis) was the kill leader with 12. They also lost to Cameron, 3-0. Charlene Hunt (OH, Jr., Folsom, Calif.) had 13 kills.

On Saturday, the Zias beat host school Drury, 3-0, behind 14 kills from Tina Wehrli (MB, Jr., Visalia, Calif.). In the final match of the classic, ENMU took Arkansas Tech to five games, losing 3-2. Hunt was the kill leader again with 11.

This Week....the Zias take one last road trip before getting to play in the friendly confines of Greyhound Arena after 26 days without a home match. ENMU takes on border rival West Texas A&M Tuesday night in Canyon. The nationally-ranked Lady Buffs are 20-3 and 5-0 in LSC-South going into the match.

The first home opponent will be Texas Woman's University on Friday at 7:00 pm. The Pioneers, LSC North Division members, are 16-10 overall and 5-0 in the LSC-North. Over the weekend they had a 9-match winning streak broken by regional foe North Alabama.

Texas A&M University-Commerce comes in Saturday afternoon following matches against Dallas Baptist on Tuesday and West Texas A&M on Friday. The Lions are 16-9 going into Tuesday's match and 3-2 in the LSC-North.

Record watch...Stacey Estlund added 148 assists to her collection last week, bringing her grand total to 1,949. She is sitting in second place on the Zias' all-time career assist list. Sitting on top of the list is Barbara Lynn (1983-86) with 2,165. Estlund needs 216 assists to top Lynn. She has 11 regular season matches to break the record.

Estlund is currently seventh on the season assist list with 796. She needs 381 assists to break the season record of 1,176 assists set by Brandi Reynolds in 1995. She already holds second place with her 1,153 assists last season.

The New LSC...the 1997 season begins expanded conference competition with 13 schools competing for the Lone Star Conference title. ENMU will compete in the South Division with Abilene Christian University, Angelo State University, Midwestern State University, Tarleton State University, Texas A&M University-Kingsville and West Texas A&M University. The Zias were picked third in the 1997 LSC-South Division Pre-season Volleyball Poll with 174 points behind West Texas A&M and Texas A&M-Kingsville. They will play each team in the South Division at home and on the road, with four matches thrown in against North Division opponents. ENMU will play Cameron University, University of Central Oklahoma, Texas A&M University-Commerce and Texas Woman's University. North Division schools Harding University and Ouachita Baptist University are not on the 1997 schedule. The top three teams from each division will advance to the LSC Post-season Tournament on November 11, 13 and 15.

Coming Up for the Zias...will be their next to last road trip of the regular season on Tuesday, October 21 at New Mexico Highlands University. The Zias will then get to play at home, again, October 24 and 25 against LSC-South opponents Angelo State and Abilene Christian.

Admission...is free to all Zia regular season home volleyball matches.

Domino's Pizza Giveaway...occurs between the second and third games of every home Zia volleyball match. Fans with the right game program are invited down to the court to try their luck at serving for a Domino's pizza.