ACU survives Rambelles, 3-1
10/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Wildcats escape ASU with 3-1 win
No. 13 ACU pushed by ASU, but extends streak to 23 straight
The nationally ranked ACU Wildcat volleyball team extended its winning streak to 23 straight matches Tuesday night with a 3-1 win over Angelo State in a Lone Star Conference South Division match at the Junell Center. The win pushes the No. 13 Wildcats to 23-3 overall and 8-0 in the LSC South Division, while ASU falls to 9-19 and 1-7.
ACU opened the match with a relatively easy 30-17 win in the first game. The Rambelles, however, came back with a heart-stopping 30-28 win over the Wildcats, the second straight conference match that ACU has lost a game. The third game was just as tense, and the Wildcats rallied from a late deficit to take a thrilling 33-31 win. ACU led throughout the fourth game and eventually held on to win, 30-25.
The Wildcats haven't lost this season since a five-game loss to Metro State (Colo.) on Aug. 27, and ACU's conference winning streak is now at 12 straight matches. The Wildcats' last two matches, however, have been tough ones as they havbe been extended to four games each time out.
The schedule promises to only get tougher from here on out as ACU goes to Incarnate Word and St. Mary's this weekend before closing out the regular season next week with two huge matches at West Texas A&M (Thursday, Nov. 3) and Eastern New Mexico (Saturday, Nov. 5).
ACU is in first place in the LSC South Division at 8-0, 2.5 games ahead of second-place West Texas A&M. The Wildcats can win the LSC South title and the right to host the LSC Post-Season Tournament with either one West Texas A&M loss or a win over the Lady Buffs next Thursday.
The second game Tuesday was tight throughout with the two teams battling to a 27-27 tie late in the game. Tess Brindoch had a kill for the Rambelles to make it 28-27, and ACU's Abbie Lowry followed with a hitting error to make it 29-27. After a service error by ASU's Amber Smith got ACU to within 29-28, ASU senior Lindsy Huling ended the game with a kill to give the Rambelles the win and sending the partisan ASU crowd into a frenzy.
The third game was just as tough for the Wildcats, who found themselves trailing 13-9 midway through the crucial game. But the Wildcats rallied to take a 14-13 lead, thanks in part to four straight attack errors by the Rambelles. The Wildcats extended their lead to 24-17 and appeared to be on their way to an easy Game 3 win before the Rambelles rallied.
Mallory Honeycutt had a pair of kills to end a 9-2 run that got the game tied at 26-26. The Rambelles and Wildcats then fought tooth and nail to the end of the game with neither taking more than a one-point lead until the last point. ACU led 30-29 on a kill by Lowry, but Honeycutt tied the game at 30-30 with a kill. Smith then had a kill to give the Rambelles a 31-30 lead and a chance to win the game before Lowry came up with a huge kill to tie the game at 31-31. ASU's Kate Henderson and Smith then followed with attack errors to give ACU the 33-31 win.
ACU jumped out to a commanding 7-2 lead in the fourth game and appeared in control throughout most of the decisive game. Once again, however, the Rambelles rallied to cut the ACU lead to 15-14 on a kill by Henderson. But ACU reeled off seven of the next 10 points to take a 22-17 lead, and despite a small ASU rally that got the Rambelles to within 26-24 late, the Wildcats were never threatened the rest of the way.
Senior rightside hitter Ashlee Motola was huge all night for the Wildcats, finishing with a team-high 16 kills to go along with 10 digs. Michelle Bernhardt had 16 kills for the Wildcats and now stands just 13 kills away from becoming only the fourth player in LSC history and 26th player in NCAA Division II history to record 2,000 career kills.
Lowry came up with several big kills in the third game and finished with 14 kills, while Amanda Slate had 14 kills and four block assists.
