ABILENE – Early in the first set against Truman State two Abilene Christian fans began cheering wildly at a seemingly awkward moment.
It was Paul and Cyndie Edwards, parents of ACU senior libero, Kelsie. And they were applauding a historic occasion for the program even though everyone else in Washburn's Lee Arena was oblivious to the fact that their daughter just became the Wildcats' all-time digs leader with 1,579.
Edwards began the 2011 season ranked 11th in with 1238 digs, but quickly moved up the ladder by averaging 4.66 digs per set through the year's first 19 matches. Among those Edwards passed prior to topping Jessica Mayes' varsity record of 1,578 was current head coach Kellen Mock (4th – 1,510) and two of Mock's teammates, including Grae Grimes (3rd – 1,570) and Liz Snoddy (2nd – 1,573).
“I'm not one to keep track of stats, so my dad was the one who told me I broke the record for most digs,” Edwards said. “It's an honor to have this record because as a defensive player I feel that digs are my specialty. They signify my contribution in helping this team, and it's cool just to be on the same list as Coach Kellen.
Mock, now in her 10th year of involvement with the Wildcats as both player and coach, said Edwards is the best libero in ACU history.
“Kelsie played at an elite level in club and high school and understands the libero position better than anyone else here ever did,” she said. “She's a well-rounded player, but this role has suited her perfectly because she's both aggressive and supportive – she's the ultimate team player.”
Edwards began her career with the Wildcats in 2008 and was immediately positioned for future success by appearing in all 35 matches and averaging 1.9 digs per set, even while playing behind defensive specialist Amy Wilson (566 digs). But by the following season the job was all hers and she responded by leading the Wildcats in digs with 528, which is the fourth highest season total in program history.
Then in 2010 Edwards firmly established herself as one of the Lone Star Conference's top defensive players by again coming close to 500 digs (494). The two-time Academic All-LSC honoree also recorded 20 or more digs seven times in her third season at ACU, including a career-best 35 in a five-set thriller at Midwestern State.
“Kelsie has slowly and steadily produced some amazing numbers,” Mock said, “and I think that's due to her quickness. She's a little ninja who can appear out of nowhere, and can cover one-half to two-thirds of the court in any given match.”
Edwards credits her quickness to playing soccer as a youngster, while her defensive skills have been sharpened by a focused mental approach to the game.
“I've always thought of defense as an attitude – 90 percent attitude and 10 percent skill,” she said. “In practice and in matches I don't want to see anything hit the ground. Kellen says she wants me to lead the defense so I get to as many balls as I can to put into the system.”
Edwards finished her most recent match Tuesday night vs. Kingsville with 10 digs, which raised her all-time total of 1,634. She didn't have to work as hard against the Javelinas as in previous matches since the Kingsville offense turned against itself in registering 31 attacking errors and an overall hitting percentage of .010. The win was ACU's second straight over a conference opponent and everyone's hoping the momentum generated from the 3-0 thrashing carries over into upcoming road matches at Tarleton State and Angelo State.
A ACU (12-10, 6-4 LSC) win Saturday afternoon against Tarleton (13-9, 7-3) at Wisdom Gym would tie the Wildcats with the TexAnns for third-place in the conference and keep them 3.0 games behind leaders Angelo State (21-2, 10-1) and West Texas A&M (19-2, 10-1) with nine matches left until the postseason. ACU and the Rambelles meet for the first time this season Tuesday night in San Angelo.
Mock said she feels her team is starting to come together at the right time.
“I was really pleased with Tuesday's win,” she said. “Kingsville is a good squad and we had to squeak past them in five sets the last time we played them. We displayed some confidence in that victory and I think it helped us re-establish ourselves as a dominant power in the conference.”
Highlights for the Wildcats during that match included a .261 hitting percentage, 14 kills from senior
Jennie Hutt, plus a complete performance from sophomore
Neely Borger, who hit .429 behind seven kills in addition to contributing two aces and six block assists. Freshman
Sara Oxford, meanwhile, played a role in four blocks, including two solo efforts as the Wildcats outblocked their eighth straight opponent.
Since its 3-0 home win vs. Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 24, ACU has continuously won the battle at the net in outblocking its opponents by a margin of 62-38.5.
Borger said her team's improvement on the block helped intimidate Kingsville.
“Against Kingsville or any other team, once you get your block set, it can intimidate and scare the opposition and I think our block freaked them out,” she said.
“It was during the Washburn Tournament weekend that we learned to block and its become part of our game again,” Mock added. “Forcing the other team to hesitate on offense allows our defense a chance to shine, and Neely's come a long way in becoming a dominant presence in the middle and she's determined to keep improving.”
With Hutt and Edwards ranked among the league's offensive and defensive leaders, Borger progressing as a blocker, and
Haley Rhoads settling in as ACU's setter (9.00apg) it finally appears as if the Wildcats have all the pieces in place for a strong second-half run. They're also helped by the fact that they'll play six of their last 10 matches at home where they're 3-1 this season.
“I feel a lot better about the second half,” said Edwards. “We spent the first half figuring out the personality of this team, but now we're settled in our different roles. I'm real excited about this weekend's matches and to see how we stack up against two good, competitive teams. We need to keep pressing harder and persevere in case we get them down early.”
