ABILENE – The Abilene Christian volleyball team will finally make its 2012 home debut at Moody Coliseum this weekend with matches against Lone Star Conference opponents Tarleton State and No. 11 Angelo State, which is the sixth nationally ranked opponent on the Wildcats' schedule this season.
ACU begins Friday's match vs. the TexAnns at 7 p.m., a match that will be streamed live for free via
SkyboxLive. The Wildcats' battle with the Rambelles starts Saturday at 2 p.m.
ACU's new student section,
The Wildcat Reign, also is organizing a White Out for Friday's match, which will include a mini-ACU volleyball toss and raffle for an ACU team-autographed volleyball. Each raffle ticket costs $2 with all proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
For Saturday's match vs. Angelo, all fans are encouraged to wear purple and the first 100 spectators in attendance will receive a rally towel.
Students involved with
The Wildcat Reign will be seated in sections K, L and M.
The Wildcats (4-6) started their final season as members of the Lone Star Conference last weekend with a 1-1 record, which currently has them in sixth place within the 11-team league. Tarleton State (7-4) is a spot ahead after winning two of its first three, while ASU (9-2) is off to a 3-0 start and tied for first. Both schools beat Midwestern State and Cameron over the weekend before the Rambelles bested the TexAnns, 3-0, Tuesday night in San Angelo.
ACU dropped its conference opener at No. 7 West Texas A&M, 3-0, but both players and coaches were encouraged by the overall effort as the Wildcats played the Lady Buffs close in all three sets: 25-23, 25-23, 25-21. The Wildcats rallied in games one and two late only to fall late, and then let an early 10-3 lead disappear in game three as WT went on to win its eighth straight decision.
The Wildcats' loss was followed by a five-set win Saturday at Eastern New Mexico. ACU won handily in the first and fourth sets before having to hold onto a 15-13 win in the decisive game.
The Zias rallied with four straight points to tie game five at 11-11, but then the Wildcats responded with a
Kalynne Allen service ace and a
Corrie Reeder kill that pushed their lead to 13-11.
Eastern New Mexico twice would get back within a point, but Reeder answered with a kill that made it 14-12 and then sophomore
Sara Oxford hammered home the clincher after the Zias made it 14-13. The win pushed ACU's record to 9-0 over Eastern New Mexico since head coach Kellen Mock took over in 2006.
The Wildcats outhit their opponents last weekend by a slim margin of .190 to .186 and were led offensively by Oxford (28 kills, .143) and freshmen Reeder (20 kills, .279) and Loerch (18 kills). Oxford also was the team's leading blocker with nine block assists.
ACU rookie
Sarah Siemens finished with 83 assists and averaged 10.38 assists per set, while
Madison Hoover had the most digs with 42 (5.25 per set).
Tarleton State is the second-best blocking team in the Lone Star Conference with 2.29 blocks per set and is led in this category by Nikki McNorton and her 1.53 average. McNorton also ranks among the conference leader in points (3.92) and hitting percentage (.342).
Angelo State is the conference's top-ranked team in several categories, including digs (19.67), kills (14.44), assists (13.56) and hitting percentage (.238). The Rambelles also are ranked among the top three in opponent hitting percentage (.107), blocks (2.15) and aces (1.19).
ASU's team leaders include Shelbi Goode, who ranks first in kills (3.92) and second in points (4.29), and Shelby Wilt who is No. 8 in aces (0.34) and digs (4.83). The Rambelles also have individuals ranked in digs and blocks, and claim the conference's best setter in Alex Woolsey (11.67 assists per set).
