Thursday, November 17
Warrensburg, MO
7:30 p.m.
Abilene Christian
at
Central Missouri
NCAA Action Starts Thursday
11/15/2011 5:20:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
NCAA South Central Regional Web Site
ABILENE – The Abilene Christian volleyball team will make its third NCAA appearance in six seasons this Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. when the eighth-seeded Wildcats take on top-seeded Central Missouri in the first round of the South Central Regional Tournament.
ACU (21-13) and the No. 6 Jennies (27-4) will play the last of four matches on a schedule that also includes #3 West Texas A&M vs. #6 Arkansas-Fort Smith at noon, #2 Washburn vs. #7 Arkansas Tech at 2:30 p.m. and #4 Angelo State vs. #5 St. Edwards at 5 p.m.
The regional winner advances to the quarterfinals of the DII National Championship the weekend of Dec. 1 - 3. West Texas A&M was the last South Central Region team to win a national title in 1997.
Central Missouri came within one match of reaching the 2010 championship match, but was swept in three sets by Tampa in the semifinals. However, the Jennies dominated the regional bracket by winning nine of 10 sets.
2011 marks the second straight year the Wildcats have traveled to Warrensburg, Mo., and the CMU Multipurpose Building for a NCAA Regional. Last season ACU qualified on the strength of a 27-6 overall record and 13-1 mark against the Lone Star Conference, but was eliminated by fifth-ranked Washburn, 3-1, in the semis a day removed from beating No. 18 Truman State in five games.
The Wildcats' win over Truman State was their first in NCAA play since 2005 when they went 2-1 at the Southwest Regional hosted by Nebraska-Kearny. There, ACU registered back-to-back 3-0 wins over Central Oklahoma and Metro State before losing in the finals to the Lopers.
2005 was one of the best in ACU volleyball history and included the program's first-ever win against Central Missouri – a 3-2 decision in which Lindsey Martin recorded the school's fourth-highest single-match assist total with 70. The Jennies were ranked seventh nationally at the time, and less than a week earlier had swept the Wildcats, but in the rematch, ACU rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win the last two sets by scores of 30-24 and 18-16.
Since then, however, CMU has taken over the series, winning 3-1 in 2006, and 3-0 in 2008 and 2009.
The Wildcats enter the regional as heavy underdogs, but have displayed such a resilient spirit since the start of October that it would be foolish for any opponent to look past them.
ACU is 11-3 since starting the year at 10-10, and during this span they've recorded four five-set victories, including ones vs. No. 25 Emporia State, No. 16 Angelo State, and Cameron during the first round of the Lone Star Conference Championship. The ACU and Cameron match was one of the most memorable in tournament history as it featured a stunning fifth-set rally by the Wildcats in which they scored 14 of the final 20 points after trailing 11-5.
Other recent Wildcat comebacks include an Oct. 22 match vs. Texas Woman's, in which ACU scored three straight points in game five to win 16-14, and an Oct. 25 contest vs. Tarleton that included a 6-0 run in game four after the TexAnns jumped out to a 23-19 lead.
As a team, ACU is hitting .195 behind an average of 13.06 kills per set led by senior outside hitter Jennie Hutt, who ranks 55th nationally with 4.27 points per set.
Sophomore Neely Borger and freshman Sara Oxford are both hitting well above .230, and have been the Wildcats' top two blockers with respective per set averages of 1.03 and 0.67. Freshman setter Haley Rhoads is averaging 10.2 assists, while senior libero Kelsie Edwards has settled in as ACU's all-time career leader with 1905 digs. This year Edwards also set the school's record for most digs in a season with 667 and has the third best average in the conference at 5.05.
Central Missouri counters with one of the most prolific offenses in all of Division II as the Jennies rank first nationally with 15.16 kills per set, second with a .316 hitting percentage and fifth with 13.86 assists per set. Paula Harris leads CMU – and ranks third in DII – with a .420 hitting percentage, while two of her teammates, Allie Huffman and Bradye Peniston are respectively hitting .347 and .343. Harris and Huffman also are averaging close to four kills per set.
Live stats for this weekend's matches will be made available for all matches.
All-session passes start at $8 for seniors and students (age to college with ID) to $20 for adults. Single-session ticket prices are $3 for seniors and students, and $8 for adults.
ABILENE – The Abilene Christian volleyball team will make its third NCAA appearance in six seasons this Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. when the eighth-seeded Wildcats take on top-seeded Central Missouri in the first round of the South Central Regional Tournament.
ACU (21-13) and the No. 6 Jennies (27-4) will play the last of four matches on a schedule that also includes #3 West Texas A&M vs. #6 Arkansas-Fort Smith at noon, #2 Washburn vs. #7 Arkansas Tech at 2:30 p.m. and #4 Angelo State vs. #5 St. Edwards at 5 p.m.
The regional winner advances to the quarterfinals of the DII National Championship the weekend of Dec. 1 - 3. West Texas A&M was the last South Central Region team to win a national title in 1997.
Central Missouri came within one match of reaching the 2010 championship match, but was swept in three sets by Tampa in the semifinals. However, the Jennies dominated the regional bracket by winning nine of 10 sets.
2011 marks the second straight year the Wildcats have traveled to Warrensburg, Mo., and the CMU Multipurpose Building for a NCAA Regional. Last season ACU qualified on the strength of a 27-6 overall record and 13-1 mark against the Lone Star Conference, but was eliminated by fifth-ranked Washburn, 3-1, in the semis a day removed from beating No. 18 Truman State in five games.
The Wildcats' win over Truman State was their first in NCAA play since 2005 when they went 2-1 at the Southwest Regional hosted by Nebraska-Kearny. There, ACU registered back-to-back 3-0 wins over Central Oklahoma and Metro State before losing in the finals to the Lopers.
2005 was one of the best in ACU volleyball history and included the program's first-ever win against Central Missouri – a 3-2 decision in which Lindsey Martin recorded the school's fourth-highest single-match assist total with 70. The Jennies were ranked seventh nationally at the time, and less than a week earlier had swept the Wildcats, but in the rematch, ACU rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win the last two sets by scores of 30-24 and 18-16.
Since then, however, CMU has taken over the series, winning 3-1 in 2006, and 3-0 in 2008 and 2009.
The Wildcats enter the regional as heavy underdogs, but have displayed such a resilient spirit since the start of October that it would be foolish for any opponent to look past them.
ACU is 11-3 since starting the year at 10-10, and during this span they've recorded four five-set victories, including ones vs. No. 25 Emporia State, No. 16 Angelo State, and Cameron during the first round of the Lone Star Conference Championship. The ACU and Cameron match was one of the most memorable in tournament history as it featured a stunning fifth-set rally by the Wildcats in which they scored 14 of the final 20 points after trailing 11-5.
Other recent Wildcat comebacks include an Oct. 22 match vs. Texas Woman's, in which ACU scored three straight points in game five to win 16-14, and an Oct. 25 contest vs. Tarleton that included a 6-0 run in game four after the TexAnns jumped out to a 23-19 lead.
As a team, ACU is hitting .195 behind an average of 13.06 kills per set led by senior outside hitter Jennie Hutt, who ranks 55th nationally with 4.27 points per set.
Sophomore Neely Borger and freshman Sara Oxford are both hitting well above .230, and have been the Wildcats' top two blockers with respective per set averages of 1.03 and 0.67. Freshman setter Haley Rhoads is averaging 10.2 assists, while senior libero Kelsie Edwards has settled in as ACU's all-time career leader with 1905 digs. This year Edwards also set the school's record for most digs in a season with 667 and has the third best average in the conference at 5.05.
Central Missouri counters with one of the most prolific offenses in all of Division II as the Jennies rank first nationally with 15.16 kills per set, second with a .316 hitting percentage and fifth with 13.86 assists per set. Paula Harris leads CMU – and ranks third in DII – with a .420 hitting percentage, while two of her teammates, Allie Huffman and Bradye Peniston are respectively hitting .347 and .343. Harris and Huffman also are averaging close to four kills per set.
Live stats for this weekend's matches will be made available for all matches.
All-session passes start at $8 for seniors and students (age to college with ID) to $20 for adults. Single-session ticket prices are $3 for seniors and students, and $8 for adults.
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