ACU to play for first LSC title
11/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
ACU to play Cameron for title
ACU in championship match for first time
LAWTON, Okla. -- The ACU Wildcats will try do something Saturday night that no other volleyball team in ACU history has ever accomplished: win a conference title.
The Wildcats -- who have dominated the Lone Star Conference all season -- moved into Saturday's Lone Star Conference Post-Season Tournament championship match with a 3-1 semifinal win over LSC South Division rival Eastern New Mexico on Friday. The win pushes the Wildcats into Saturday night's 7 p.m. championship match where they will play Cameron, which beat Angelo State in Friday's other semifinal match.
ACU will be playing in Cameron's Aggie Gym in a match that will have several implications for the Lady Aggies, who lost in three games to ACU earlier this season at the annual LSC crosover tournament in Abilene. Cameron's longtime head coach, Kim Vinson, announced earlier this season that she would retire at the end of the season, meaning Saturday's match will be her final match at Aggie Gym. Also, Cameron needs a win to secure the LSC's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Southwest Region tournament.
ACU, now 27-7 on the season, should have a spot in next weekend's regional tournament secured after reaching the conference tournament championship match for the first time in school history. The Wildcats are ranked No. 3 in the latest regional poll, and the top eight teams will be invited to the tournament. The final field of eight will be determined late Sunday.
Eastern New Mexico, the only LSC team to beat ACU this season, won the first game Friday, 30-26, before ACU came back to win the match in dominating fashion, taking the last three games by the scores of 33-31, 30-23, 30-17.
Junior outside hitter Michelle Bernhardt led the way for the Wildcats with 18 kills, giving her 1,458 for her career, leaving her three short of passing Linda Evans for the lead on ACU's all-time career kills list. Junior hitter Ashlee Motola had 15 kills, while junior middle blocker Amanda Slate and freshman outside hitter Abbie Lowry had 11 kills each.
Slate was also effective on the defensive end, totaling nine blocks to lead an ACU defense that had 24 total blocks in the match.
