ACU sweeps past Lady Buffs
10/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
ACU sweeps past Lady Buffs
ACU win pushes winning streak to 16 straight; Moody streak at 31
ABILENE -- The ACU Wildcats set a single-season school record Saturday with their 16th straight win as they swept past West Texas A&M in a Lone Star Conference South Division match at Moody Coliseum.
ACU, ranked No. 14 in the nation, rolled past the Lady Buffs, 30-20, 30-22, 30-21, to set a school record for most consecutive wins in a season. The previous record was 15 straight by the 1993 Wildcat squad. Saturday's win was also the Wildcats' 31st straight win at home, and their eighth straight win by a 3-0 score.
ACU hasn't lost at home since since a four-game loss to West Texas A&M on Oct. 11, 2003, and will try to close out an undefeated regular season on Thursday, Oct. 20, when it hosts Tarleton State.
The Wildcats are now 16-3 overall and 5-0 in the LSC South Division, while the Lady Buffs fall to 16-7 and 3-1. ACU will play at West Texas A&M on Thursday, Nov. 3.
The Wildcats dominated the first game, but fell behind by as many as five points (18-13) in the second game. However, the Wildcats rebounded behind senior Michelle Bernhardt, who had three kills in a 7-2 ACU run that tied the game at 20-20. ACU took its first lead since early in the game on a kill by freshman middle blocker Lauren Leone.
Bernhardt then had another kill to make it a 23-21 ACU lead, and the Wildcats rolled from there. Sophomore outside hitter Abbie Lowry -- who finished with 13 kills -- had four straight kills for the Wildcats to push the lead to 29-22, and an attack error by Brittani Bell gave the Wildcats the 30-22 win.
ACU jumped out to a 9-5 lead early in the third game and never looked back on its way to a 30-21 win in the decisive game. The Wildcats hit a match-best .364 in the third game to give them a .264 hitting percentage for the match.
Bernhardt finished with 17 kills, while senior middle blocker Amanda Slate added 12 kills to go along with six block assists. Malia Plumlee and Liz Snoddy each had 16 digs for the Wildcats, who won their third straight match against the Lady Buffs.
The Wildcats will be back in action Tuesday night when they go to Austin to take on St. Edward's. ACU beat the Lady Hilltoppers in three games on Sept. 13 in Moody Coliseum.
