DENVER, Colo. - A pair of kills from
Sara Oxford and
Jennifer Loerch combined with four consecutive Oredigger attack errors gave the Abilene Christian volleyball team a comeback victory in the fourth and decisive game of its 3-1 decision over No. 21 Colorado School of Mines Friday afternoon at Regis Fieldhouse.
ACU won the first two sets 26-24 and 25-19 before slipping in the third, 25-20. The Wildcats then trailed late, 20-17, before receiving some timely hits from their outside hitters to go along with a couple of lucky breaks.
Oxford finished the match with 17 kills and her last two of the fourth set helped knot the score at 20-20. Jackie Stabell countered to give the lead back to the School of Mines, but that advantage was short lived after Loerch combined with classmate
Sarah Siemens for her 11th kill of the match.
From there back-to-back errors by the Orediggers put them in a two-point hole at 23-21 and forced them into a timeout. Then on the next series Loerch and freshman
Corrie Reeder stuffed Stabell's shot for ACU's seventh block of the afternoon, and on the following possession, Oredigger Melanie Wannamaker slapped one out of bounds to end the match.
"This was definitely a solid opponent to get a win over, in fact, any win at this tournament is good for us," head coach Kellen Mock said. "Our effort tonight showed how far we've come since last week and what kind of team we're capable of being on any night. We're excited right now, but we quickly have to put this win behind us and get ready for tomorrow's games."
The win evened ACU's season record at 3-3, while the School of Mines dropped to 4-1. The Orediggers play again tonight at the Colorado Premier Challenge vs. No. 3 Tampa, which shutout the Wildcats earlier today, 3-0. A win for the Spartans gives ACU second place in Pool III, while a win for the School of Mines results in a three-way tie at 1-1.
The Wildcats are scheduled to play twice Saturday, but their opponents and schedule won't be determined until the conclusion of tonight's matches. Tomorrow's slate of games at the challenge runs from 9:30 a.m. (MT) to 7 p.m.
In addition to Oxford's effort, sophomore
Rachel Riley provided 12 kills and a .409 hitting percentage, while Loerch had 11 kills and two block assists. Siemens provided 39 of the team's 47 assists, and
Madison Hoover had the most digs with 12.
Stabell led the Orediggers with 19 kills.
Oxford recorded nine kills and eight digs in the loss to Tampa. The Spartans won by scores of 25-17, 25-10, and 25-22, but Mock said her players scrapped for every point right until the end.
"Our team, every team, says 'never give up, never say die,' but with our players their mentality is 'never take breaks," she said, "and that attitude showed in both matches today. They just keep coming at you regardless of the score and won't ever let up."
