ABILENE – The Abilene Christian volleyball team received a No. 9 ranking in the first South Central Regional poll released this season by the NCAA. The Wildcats are one of three Lone Star Conference teams ranked, joining No. 3 Angelo State and Thursday night's opponent No. 4 West Texas A&M.
The top-10 poll also includes ACU non-conference opponents: No. 1 Washburn (L, 0-3), No. 7 Truman (L, 1-3) and No. 10 Emporia State (W, 3-2). It was the Wildcats' win over the Hornets on Oct. 1 that helped turn their season around, as they are 7-3 since.
Last night's 3-1 win over Tarleton State was ACU's third straight and sixth over its last seven matches, lifting its overall and conference records to 16-11 and 10-5.
“We knew there were going to be some growing pains at the start of the year, but right now the whole team is clicking as one,” head coach Kellen Mock said. “I'm glad to see our plans coming to fruition after having to make some tough decisions.”
Since the calendar flipped to October the Wildcats' block has jumped from a 1.56 per set average to 2.11, while their hitting percentage has rose more than 30 points from .183 to .217, part of which is due to the play of freshman setter
Haley Rhoads.
Rhoads, who has registered 50 or more assists over the past four matches, is averaging 11.11 per set this month and is ranked fifth (67th nationally) among all Lone Star Conference setters with a 9.62 average.
“I'm fortunate to be surrounded by some awesome hitters and passes,” Rhoads set following Tuesday's win. “The passers target the ball toward my direction and the hitters execute.”
One hitter in particular who may be benefitting from Rhoads' presence is sophomore
Neely Borger, who has seen her hitting percentage rise from .184 in September to .226 after hitting .291 so far in October. Borger's also become more aggressive on the block and currently has eight fewer blocks through nine October matches (41) than she did through 17 September contests (49).
Freshman
Sara Oxford is another who's raised her level of play this month in contributing 3.14 kills and 0.75 blocks per set. Oxford's 326 points on the season are second only to
Jennie Hutt with 429.5, and her .279 hitting percentage ranks 10th in the conference.
Hutt's point total ranks third in the LSC (60th), while her 3.81 kills per set ranks second (44th) to Cameron's Kelle Carver at 4.01.
Borger also remains one of the league's top servers with 0.25 services aces per set, and senior libero
Kelsie Edwards is second (42nd) with 4.98 digs.
Following Thursday's prime-time match at No. 12 West Texas A&M, the Wildcats make their final regular season road trip to Portales, N.M., for a Saturday matinee with the Zias of Eastern New Mexico. The Lady Buffs are 14-0 at home and have won eighth straight in building a 24-2 overall record, however, the Zias have traveled in the opposite direction with overall and conference marks of 5-19 and 1-14.
“We have a lot of big matches still ahead of us and nothing's going to come easy against West Texas or Eastern New Mexico,” Mock said. “Our first match vs. Eastern marked a crucial point in the season, and it started a whole new level of play for us. I hope our players remember that and will continue to get better and better through every match like we have been.”
