Click here to join ACU's SideOut Club
ABILENE – Abilene Christian's student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC) is planning a Moody Coliseum Blackout Thursday night in honor of the Lone Star Conference's premier rivalry between the Wildcats and No. 17 West Texas A&M. The match begins at 7 p.m.
All ACU employees and students with valid university-issued ID cards, plus children ages 12 and under are admitted free of charge to this and all regular-season home volleyball matches. Adult general admission tickets are priced at $5.
These two schools have come to represent the best of the Lone Star Conference over the last two decades, combining to win 14 of the previous 15 league titles, and all ACU fans are encouraged to show up in force wearing black shirts and actively cheering their club throughout each set.
The Wildcats fed off the home-court advantage last Tuesday in fending off Incarnate Word's late rally, and could use it again to snap a two-match losing streak that's dropped their record to 7-6 and 3-2 vs. the conference. The Lady Buffs, meanwhile, are 10-1 (4-1 LSC) after losing at Tarleton State Saturday night in five sets. They will again play tonight vs. Midwestern State before coming to Abilene.
Last week was a roller-coaster ride for ACU as it started the week with two wins followed by consecutive five-set losses. In the aforementioned 3-2 win vs. the Cardinals, senior
Jennie Hutt recorded the second highest single-match kill total in ACU history with 32 – an effort that earned her a share of the conference's Offensive Player of the Week Award.
Hutt split the honor with Tarleton's Flynn Harrell, and is the second Wildcat recognized by the conference this season joining setter
Caley Johnson.
Following their win over UIW the Wildcats started a three-game conference road trip with an exciting four-set comeback win vs. A&M-Commerce. Hutt made some big plays vs. the Lions in the decisive fourth set, first recording a pair of kills to bring the Wildcats back from a 23-19 deficit and then delivering the final two match points after Commerce tied it at 25-25.
The last two road games were not as kind as ACU watched 2-0 leads slip away vs. 2-7 Texas Woman's and 6-7 Incarnate Word.
The Wildcats as a team rank among the conference's top-five squads in hitting percentage (5th, .186), kills (3rd, 12.75), assists (4th, 12.00) and digs (5th, 16.15). Individually, Hutt is the LSC leader in kills with 3.92 per set and ranks third with 4.27 points per set.
Kelsie Edwards ranks fifth in digs at 4.79.
