ACU falls to Zias, 3-1
10/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Wildcats drop first LSC South match
Zias cut down Wildcats in front of more than 1,000 fans
PORTALES, N.M. -- Eastern New Mexico dealt ACU its first Lone Star Coference South Division loss Thursday night at Greyhound Stadium as the Zias defeated ACU in four games in front of 1,147 raucous fans at Greyhound Arena.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 20-7 overall and 5-1 in the LSC South Division. ACU -- ranked No. 3 in this week's NCAA Division II Southwest Region poll -- still leads the division by one game over both Angelo State (4-2) and Eastern New Mexico (4-2). The Wildcats will return to action Saturday at 2 p.m. in Canyon when it takes on fourth-place West Texas A&M (2-4 in the LSC South) at 2 p.m. in the WTAMU Fieldhouse.
The Lady Buffs -- who beat Angelo State in five games Thursday night -- will try to avenge a three-game loss to ACU on Sept. 30 in Abilene. The Wildcats have won only five matches in their history against West Texas A&M, and have never swept the season series. A win by ACU would virtually eliminate the Lady Buffs from post-season contention for the first time since 1987.
Thursday night's match was a hard-fought affair with each of the four games going right down to the wire.
ACU grabbed a 28-26 lead in the first game on back-to-back kills by Michelle Bernhardt before the Zias ran off the final four points of the game to take a 1-0 lead. The Wildcats dominated the second game, taking an early 9-8 lead and never relinqishing that advantage. Bernhardt -- who finished with a match-high 22 kills -- had eight kills in the second game as ACU out-hit the Zias .273-.132.
The third game was a taught affair with neither team able to run off more than two points in a row after being tied at 21 late in the game. But tied at 30-30, a block by ENMU's Margie Goble and Lindsay Schiely (ENMU out-blocked ACU 12-7 in the match) and a service ace by Schiely gave ENMU a 32-30 win.
ACU jumped out a 10-4 lead in the fourth game and looked like it would force a fifth-and-deciding game, but it couldn't hold the lead. Eastern tied it at 19-19 on a kill by Goble, and with the game tied again at 25-25, the Zias ran off three straight points to take command of the game, and, ultimately, the match.
The Wildcats were led by Bernhardt's 22 kills and 16 digs, while middle blocker Amanda Slate had 16 kills, four service aces, three digs and four block assists. Freshman outside hitter Abbie Lowry had 15 kills and three block assists, and junior setter Lindsey Martin had 54 assists.
ACU outhit ENMU .223-.172 in the match, and had more kills (69-55) and more digs (84-65) than did the Zias. But ACU comitted nine service errors, 10 ballhandling errors and had just seven blocks to the the 12 by the Zias.
