Box Score
CANYON – ACU kept its hopes for a berth in the NCAA South Central Region volleyball tournament alive Thursday afternoon with a stunning fifth-set rally against Cameron in the opening round of the Lone Star Conference Post-Season Tournament at "The Box."
The Wildcats and Aggies were tied at two sets apiece and Cameron – the sixth seed in the tournament – looked as if it were going to pull off the tournament's first upset when it jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the fifth set.
But the No. 3 seed Wildcats responded by scoring 14 of the final 20 points of the match to pull out a 19-17 win in the fifth set. ACU won the match 20-25, 26-24, 25-16, 18-25, 19-17, to improve to 21-12 on the season. Cameron sees its season end at 15-15. The Wildcats now advance to the tournament semifinals Friday at 5 p.m. against No. 2 seed Angelo State, a 3-0 winner Thursday afternoon over No. 7 seed Midwestern State.
"That whole match really was a roller-coaster," ACU head coach Kellen Mock said. "We never could quite get in a groove in that match and seems like we played the whole match out of sorts. Cameron adjusted and played slightly differently than they did the last time we played them (a 3-0 ACU win last Saturday in Abilene), and we didn't adjust very well to what they were doing. But I was really impressed with the play of our three seniors (
Jennie Hutt,
Aubree Vick and
Kelsie Edwards). They didn't want (today) to be their last match, and that mentality helped us fight through everything that was going on and win the match."
The Aggies led 11-5 late in the decisive fifth set, but ACU went on a 9-3 run to tie the match 14-14. Cameron went up match-point on the Wildcats 15-14 and then again 16-15 before an attack error from the Aggies tied the match 16-16. Another attack error gave the Wildcats a 17-16 lead, but Cameron's Kelle Carver tied the match at 17-17 with her kill. A kill by ACU senior Aubrie Vick gave the Wildcats an 18-17 lead, and then Cameron followed with an attack error, giving the Wildcats the win in come-from-behind fashion.
"We never think we're really done, but I keep warning the girls that one day they're not going to be able to make the comeback," Mock said. "We played a microcosm of our whole season in that fifth set. But when you walk away from it, you're just thankful that you won and get ready for the next one."
ACU had four players with double-digit kills, led by Hutt's 16 kills. Freshman
Sara Oxford – named on Wednesday the LSC Freshman of the Year – had 14 kills and four blocks, while Vick had 13 kills and
Neely Borger added 10 kills and nine blocks.
Haley Rhoads had 59 assists, one kills, seven digs and two blocks from the setter position.
