ACU Splits in Opener

Friday, September 3

Golden, Colo.

4:30 pm

Abilene Christian

Fort Lewis College

Photo by: John Williamson

9/4/2010 12:26:59 AM | Women's Volleyball

Oredigger Classic Tournament Central

GOLDEN, Colo. – ACU returned to the court Friday afternoon to tip off the 2010 season with a split at the Oredigger Classic. The Wildcats beat Slippery Rock (Pa.), 3-0 after falling to Fort Lewis (Colo.), 3-2 in a five set battle.

The Wildcats will finish the CSM Classic with a pair of games at noon against Regis and finish out their Rocky Mountain trip against Mesa State at 4:30 p.m.

Game 1
The Wildcats dropped a tough opening match against Fort Lewis, 3-2 to open Colorado School of Mines Volleyball Classic Friday. The Wildcats dropped the first set, 25-23 but rebounded to take the next two, 25-22 and 25-20.

However the Wildcats could not recover from early deficits in the final two sets falling 25-23 and 21-19.

“We fixed a lot of our problems as the day went on,” head coach Kellen Mock said. “We still need to work on consistency. Volleyball is an emotional game, we need to get to a calm level and get consistency throughout the match,” she said.

The Wildcats showed they can be successful when controlling the net finishing with 14 blocks as a team. Senior Shawna Hines had seven blocks of her own while freshmen Neely Borger added five more. Jordan Schilling led the defensive effort with 20 digs with Jennie Hutt close behind with 18.

Fort Lewis finished with 67 kills as a team but a lower attacking percentage on the offensive side. Hutt lead the Wildcats with 20 kills while Schilling also posted a double-double with 12. Hines also added 12 kills on the offensive side of the net.

Game 2
In the nightcap ACU rallied to sweep Slippery Rock in three sets, 25-23, 25-18, and 25-19. The Wildcat defense showed why they led the Lone Star Conference a year ago in several defensive categories including blocks.

“Shawna and Neely are doing a great job of closing their block, but defensively we're still not strong enough to let our defense win or lose a match for us,” Mock said. “We had three new kids get on the court and did really well today. As a whole we're starting to come together and you can see that on the court.”

Freshmen Neely Borger and Madelyn Robinett saw the most action of newcomers today and played well with the Wildcat returners. Both had a pair of blocks and kills helping to solidify the ACU defense.

Libero Kelsie Edwards was also strong in the night cap leading the defense with 21 digs.

E.J. Moronu was also solid picking up her first double-double with 35 assists and 11 digs while adding eight kills against The Rock.

ACU finishes out the tournament with Regis at 12 p.m. and Mesa State at 4:30 p.m.