CANYON – For the second consecutive season the Wildcats play for the Lone Star Conference volleyball championship after they rallied for a 3-2 win over Angelo State in Friday evening's semifinals at The Box on the West Texas A&M campus.
The Wildcats (29-5 and winners of 17 straight matches) will take on three-time defending conference champion West Texas A&M at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Lady Buffs knocked off Texas A&M-Commerce, 3-0, in Friday's second semifinal match. West Texas A&M will carry a 43-match home-court winning streak into the championship match.
The Lady Buffs haven't lost a match to a conference team since 2005. In fact, the last LSC team to beat WT -- and they beat them on their home floor -- was the ACU Wildcats, who took a 3-2 win over the Lady Buffs back on Nov. 3, 2005.
On Friday, the Wildcats took the first set 25-20 against Angelo State as neither team looked to give ground. Angelo State, however, won sets two and three, each by the score of 25-21 as the Rambelles took a 2-1 lead in the match. But the Wildcats hit .273 to just .146 for ASU in the fourth set as the Wildcats kept the match going with a 25-21 win to even the match at two sets apiece.
In the decisive fifth set, the Wildcats never trailed, jumped out to an 8-2 lead and cruised to a 15-9 win in the set that sent them to the championship match.
Shawna Hines and setter
Ijeoma Moronu each had two kills in the set, while
Jordan Schilling and
Michelle Bacon each had a pair of kills. Angelo State shot itself in the foot over and over, committing six attack errors and hitting negative-.056 in the fifth set.
Hines was exceptional again as the nation's leader in total blocks recorded 11 total blocks as the Wildcats totaled 16 total blocks to just three for the Rambelles. Hines also had 13 kills and hit .375 in the match.
Moronu recorded 50-plus assists for the fifth time this season as she tallied 53 assists and eight kills.
Jennie Hutt recorded 13 kills, seven digs and five total blocks, while Schilling finished with 12 kills, 12 digs and two total blocks.
