Bernhardt makes history in ACU win
10/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Wildcats extend winning streak to 24
Bernhardt makes history with 2,000th career kill
SAN ANTONIO -- The ACU Wildcats ran their school-record winning streak to 24 matches Friday night with a 3-1 win over Incarnate Word, and in the process senior outside hitter Michelle Bernhardt put her mark on both ACU and Lone Star Conference history.
The Wildcats beat the Lady Crusaders, 30-16, 30-15, 16-30, 30-21, to improve to 24-3 on the season with a 2 p.m. Saturday match at St. Mary's next on the schedule. The Wildcats, ranked No. 13 in the nation, swept St. Mary's in three games last month at Moody Coliseum in Abilene.
Bernhardt had 14 kills in the win over Incarnate Word to give her 2,001 career kills going into the St. Mary's match. Bernhardt -- ACU's all-time leader in kills -- is just the fourth person in Lone Star Conference history and 26th player in NCAA Division II history to record 2,000 career kills. Earlier this season, senior setter Lindsey Martin became just the fourth player in LSC history to record 5,000 career assists, making them the first setter-hitter tandem in conference history to top those marks while playing together.
The Wildcats had little trouble in the first two games Friday night, winning handily while hitting .382 and .345, respectively, in the first two games of the match. Incarnate Word, meanwhile, hit .108 and -.071, respectively in the first two games to fall behind 2-0. But those numbers turned complete in the third game as ACU hit .000 while watching the Lady Crusaders hit at a .414 clip (14 kills, 2 errors). But ACU hit .366 to Incarnate Word's .184 in the fourth game to close out the victory.
ACU head coach Brek Horn, who picked up the 166th win of her seven-year career on Friday, said Friday's match was the best her team had played in at least two weeks.
Senior middle blocker Amanda Slate had 17 kills and a hitting percentage of .600 (17 kills, 2 errors, 25 attacks) to lead the Wildcats, while sophomore outside hitter Abbie Lowry had 15 kills and Bernhardt 14. Martin had 41 assists to give her 1,247 on the season and 5,449 for her career. She has the second, fourth, seventh and eighth best assist seasons in school history with her 2005 season ranking seventh on the list. Martin, the school's career leader in assists, needs 383 the rest of the way to break the single-season school record of 1,629 assists, which was set by former all-region setter Randi Kinzer in 2000.
