ABILENE – The Abilene Christian volleyball team bids farewell to Moody Coliseum this week as it concludes the home portion of its 2012 schedule with matches against Lone Star Conference rivals Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Incarnate Word.
The Wildcats will first play host to the Lions Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a match that will be streamed via the ACU Sports page at
SkyboxLive.com. The Javelinas then come to Abilene Friday at 7 p.m., followed by the Cardinals Saturday at 2 p.m.
Saturday's match is also the last home contest for ACU's lone senior,
Kalynne Allen. A right-side hitter and native of New Braunfels, Texas, Allen joined the program in 2009 and has been a key contributor for some of Wildcats' most successful teams, two of which reached the NCAA Regional Championships.
Through her three-plus seasons as a Wildcat, Allen has appeared in over 350 sets and her current career totals include more than 600 kills and digs, 150 blocks and 60 service aces. Outside of volleyball, Allen has received numerous academic awards, including two Lone Star Conference All-Academic certificates and a spot on last year's CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-District Team. Allen is on track to graduate in the spring of 2013 with a Bachelor of Science degree in social studies with teacher certification.
ACU stumbled on the road last weekend as a disappointing follow up to its upset win over No. 8 West Texas A&M. The Wildcats first lost in three sets at No. 9 Angelo State and then in four games at Tarleton State. The Rambelles' victory was their fifth-straight and kept them a game ahead of the TexAnns for first place in the conference and 2.5 up on the Lady Buffs.
The consecutive defeats dropped the Wildcats (9-14) into a tie for sixth with the Javelinas and Cardinals at 5-8; however, each of these schools are two games ahead of ninth-place Cameron and three up on Midwestern State, which has lost seven consecutive decisions.
The Lions (16-7, 7-6 LSC) have been a mild surprise this season considering they tied for ninth place last year with a 6-14 record, but several significant winning streaks over the past two months have given them stability within the league's upper half. Commerce was in the midst of another four-match winning streak as recently as last week, but couldn't push it to five against the Lady Buffs in Canyon, where they lost 3-0.
ACU twice defeated the Lions last year, which extended its series-winning streak against them to four, but they've yet to face one another this season. The rematch between the two schools will take place in East Texas on the evening of Nov. 2.
The Wildcats' battles vs. Kingsville (12-10, 5-8 LSC) and Incarnate Word (8-14, 5-8 LSC) are rematches from the 3-0 defeats they suffered on the road earlier this season. The Cardinals' sweep of ACU was a program first and marked only their third win over the Wildcats in 18 meetings. The Wildcats' loss to the Javelinas was equally shocking as it was Kingsville's first in the series since 2007.
ACU is 43-13 all-time vs. Kingsville and has not lost twice in one year to the Javelinas since 2008.
Live statistics will be provided for all three matches.
