Eastern New Mexico University's volleyball team is set to compete in the 2025 LCU Chap Invite, taking place in Lubbock, Texas. The Greyhounds will face Southwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday, Fort Lewis and CSU Pueblo on Friday, and host Lubbock Christian on Saturday.
The matches will be streamed live on FloCollege. Tickets for those attending can be purchased online at the LCU athletics webpage. Live statistics will also be available for all games.
Eastern New Mexico enters the season after a 5-22 record in 2024 and was ranked 14th in the Lone Star Conference Preseason poll. The team's roster includes 14 newcomers, with returning players Sophia Valdez, Imahni Brown, and Nevaeh Rodriquez. At the recent Mustang Invite, ENMU went winless in four matches against New Mexico Highlands, Sul Ross State, Fort Lewis, and Western New Mexico.
Sophia Valdez leads ENMU with 39 kills this season (17th in the conference), while freshman Addison Bartlett has recorded 38 kills (21st). Transfer Amya Speller tops the team with six blocks and a .295 hitting percentage along with 18 kills. After this tournament, ENMU is scheduled to play next weekend at the LSC Challenge in Silver City.
Southwestern Oklahoma State's lineup features six freshmen and seven returners including seniors Cameron Turner, Hailey Smith, and Paris Patterson. Key contributors are Kaylyn Christy (36 kills), Smith (34), and Patterson (33). Jada Permenter leads defensively with 65 digs; Katja Blanchat has tallied 21 blocks. SWOSU holds a slight series lead over ENMU at 6-4.
Fort Lewis College arrives at the event with a strong start to their season—3-1 overall—which marks their best opening since 2017. Leaders include Ella Butler (37 kills), Cambria Freymuth (34 kills), Jordan DeJesus (24 kills), Pomroy (73 digs), and Butler again leading blocks with five. FLC leads its series against ENMU by eight wins to four.
CSU Pueblo enters with a single win out of four matches so far this year—their victory coming against Texas A&M International from within the Lone Star Conference. Caelyn Gunn has posted notable numbers: 58 kills at an average of 4.46 per set alongside 47 digs; Megan Mattingly leads defense with 53 digs while Finja Schul has contributed eight blocks. Historically, ENMU leads their series against CSU Pueblo by sixteen wins to six; their last win came in August of 2018.
Lubbock Christian is projected eighth in this year's Lone Star Conference preseason poll after finishing last season at 13-14 overall and making it into the conference championships for the first time since 2021. Senior Lily Bickley stands out among returners—with over eight hundred career kills—joined by fellow seniors Payton Murray and Bryleigh Schweer as well as junior Tatum Fleitman; these four represent most of LCU’s top kill leaders from last year’s squad. In head-to-head meetings between ENMU and LCU spanning sixty-six previous encounters, Eastern New Mexico holds a narrow edge at thirty-four wins to thirty-two.
