Box Score
ABILENE –Two weeks removed from an upsetting five-set loss at Angelo State, the Abilene Christian volleyball team returned the favor vs. the 16th-ranked Rambelles Tuesday night at Moody Coliseum, winning 3-2 by scores of 25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 15-25 and 15-13.
“The best word to describe this team is resilient,” head coach Kellen Mock said. “(Assistant coach) Jason (Bibler) first used that word to describe this team last December, and lately it's proven to be true time and time again. It's a fun quality to have, because win or lose, they're ready to move on to the next game.”
ACU won the match on a block by sophomore
Neely Borger and freshman
Rachel Riley, who finished the night with five kills and three blocks. Borger, meanwhile, played a role in eight blocks (one solo) as ACU improved to 18-12 overall and 12-6 against the Lone Star Conference.
“By the end of the first game we knew we could win this match,” Borger said. “It gave us confidence and the belief that we have what it takes to compete against the likes of an Angelo State or West Texas.”
The Rambelles had been chasing the Lady Buffs all season for first place and the right to host the conference championship, but tonight's lost locked them into the No. 2 seed, 2.0 games behind West Texas with two to play without the benefit of a tiebreak.
As for ACU, the Wildcats remain in third place and a game up on Tarleton State, which beat A&M-Commerce, 3-2, earlier tonight. The TexAnns have road matches vs. Kingsville and Incarnate Word this weekend while ACU plays host to Midwestern State and Cameron.
The tone of a back-and-forth struggle was established in game one as both clubs rolled off significant runs at different intervals. ASU went on a 4-0 run after starting in an 8-5 hole and would eventually grab a 17-15 lead before ACU countered with a 5-0 run in which freshman
Sara Oxford drove in two of her 28 kills.
By the end of that stretch, the Wildcats were up 20-17 – matching their biggest lead of the game – and then exchanged points with the Rambelles over the final 10 services. After ASU's Debbie Ohl cut ACU's lead to 24-23, junior
Kalynne Allen clinched it with a kill of her own as the Wildcats hit .279 for the set and .220 for the match.
Allen finished the match with 14 kills, 18 digs and a .294 hitting percentage.
Angelo State hit .222, led by Ohl with 18 kills and no errors. The Rambelles also received solid performances from Maddie Huth (15 kills, two aces, five blocks), Celeste Bonter (14 kills) and Chelsea Gibson (12 kills, three blocks).
This quartet was especially impressive during the second set in which ASU knotted the match at 1-1 behind a .311 average. The Rambelles pretty much led this one from start to finish but weren't able to shake free of the Wildcats until the very end when they scored five of the last seven points to win 25-20. Ohl accounted for three points during this stretch, while Huth collected two points via kill and a block assist with Kaelen Valdez.
The momentum was clearly in the Rambelles' corner following game two, and they used it to build an 18-13 advantage in game three. However, the Wildcats rebounded with a 6-2 run that featured three kills and a block assist from Oxford, plus another rejection from Borger and freshman setter
Haley Rhoads that brought ACU to within a point at 20-19.
Angelo State scored the next point following its timeout to go back up by two, but then the Wildcats rifled off four straight kills in grabbing the lead for good at 23-21. Rhoades assisted on all four attacks and finished the match with a career high of 63.
Afterward the Rambelles and Wildcats exchanged the next four points with Allen again delivering the clinching point on a kill.
Unfortunately for ACU, it was not able to put the match to rest in four sets as ASU watched the Wildcats commit 10 errors en route to a -.091 hitting percentage. The Rambelles also registered three blocks in the early goings and then put up one more during a game-ending 8-2 run.
The effects of the blowout game-four loss did not linger on the ACU sideline for long as the Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game five, which proved to be of huge importance since the set would experience two more lead changes and eight ties. The game remained a seesaw ride right until the very end when Hutt's 21st and final kill and the Borger/Riley block snapped a 13-13 tie.
Nearly lost in all the excitement of tonight's win was the steady performance of senior libero
Kelsie Edwards, who quietly set the school's record for most digs in a single season with 583, breaking the previous record of 577 set by Ricci Wingett in 1993.
Edwards' previous season best of 494 was set last year. She is also the varsity record holder in digs with 1,821 and counting.
“I can't imagine playing any other position,” she said. “My favorite thing in this game is to get the dig, and then get right back up to cover the next ball.
“This was a huge win for us,” she added, “and the best thing about this team is that we always bounce back. We never give up. And now that we've beaten the second-best team in the conference toward the end of the season, it makes me feel real excited for the tournament.”
The Wildcats return to action Thursday for a 7 p.m. home match vs. Midwestern State, prior to which ACU will honor its three seniors: Edwards, Hutt and
Aubree Vick.
The Mustangs defeated the Wildcats, 3-0, earlier this season on Oct. 6, but Mock said her team is playing much better now that it was then.
“The first time we faced them we struggled to get our offense going and the defense couldn't stop their attack… we were tight and couldn't produce as a result,” she said. “But we're a different team on our home court, and I like the fact that our team has bought into the idea of having to defend it. We've built this team up all through October to get it where it's playing at its best in November.”
Saturday's 2 p.m. match vs. Cameron is also Parents' Day during which all the families of this year's ACU's players will accompany their daughters on the court during introductions.
