Northwestern State Live Stats | Stephen F. Austin Live Stats
ABILENE – The Abilene Christian volleyball team will play host to its final home matches of 2013 and bid a fond farewell to seniors
Caley Johnson and
Madelyn Robinett during this weekend's Southland Conference clashes against Northwestern State (Thursday at 7 p.m.) and Stephen F. Austin (Saturday at 2 p.m.).
Live stats will be made available for each match.
As members of two NCAA Tournament teams in 2010 and 2011, Johnson and Robinett each have been quality contributors for the Wildcats on the court and in the classroom.
A native of La Vista, Neb., Johnson began her ACU career as a setter before transitioning into the role of defensive specialist, in which she has averaged more than 2.0 digs per set over the past two seasons. And for her work as a student, Johnson was twice named to the Capital One Academic All-District VI team and in 2012 was voted Lone Star Conference Academic Player of the Year.
Robinett also is listed as a defensive specialist, but her primary strength is as a server. She leads her team again this season with 17 aces, four of which were against Louisiana Tech, and last season she finished first in the Lone Star Conference with 0.38 service aces per set (28 through 74 sets played). Academically, Robinett has been featured several times on the Lone Star Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll and was nominated for Academic All-America this fall.
The Wildcats enter the final weekend of October at 6-13 overall and 2-9 vs. the Southland Conference following last Saturday's incredibly close 3-0 win at New Orleans. The Wildcats won the match by scores of 25-23, 28-26 and 25-22, led by freshman
Dorothy Swanson's career-high 14 kills. Swanson recorded the clinching points in each game and is now averaging 1.64 kills per set this season.
Swanson also provided a defensive presence against the Privateers, coming through with six of the team's 50 digs and five block assists.
Junior
Neely Borger (six), sophomore
Jennifer Loerch (5) and freshman
Lexi Mercier (4), combined on several additional blocks in keeping ACU ranked first in the conference with 2.45 blocks per set. Oral Roberts is second in the conference with 2.25 blocks per set, while Mercier is first among all Southland individuals with 1.54 stops per set.
With 11 blocks over the weekend, which included seven in a 3-2 loss at Southeastern Louisiana, Mercier eclipsed the 100-block plateau for this season. However, she still needs 27 more to tie Shawna Hines for 10th place on ACU's all-time single-season list.
Borger continued her climb among ACU's career blocking leaders with nine against the Lions and Privateers, which moved her into sole possession of eighth place with 298. She needs two more to tie assistant coach
Ijeoma Moronu's seventh-place career total of 300.
At setter,
Sarah Siemens split some time during the Southeastern match with
Haley Rhoads, but still came away with 49 assists this weekend to get within 57 of tying Krista Wright's eighth-place career total of 1,785. Wright was a Wildcat setter from 1988-89.
Both Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin were among the Southland's preseason favorites to win a league title, but only the Lady Demons still have a legitimate shot of winning the regular-season crown as they begin their week 13-10 overall and 9-2 vs. the league – two matches behind 11-0 Central Arkansas with seven matches remaining.
Northwestern State doesn't rank high in many offensive categories this year, but the Lady Demons still have the league's fourth-best hitter in junior Vanessa Coleman (.312) and a three-time Defensive Player of the Week in libero Keelie Arneson, who is averaging a league best 5.24 digs per set.
SFA received one first-place vote in the coaches' preseason poll, but will need a lot of help to win the Southland's regular-season championship as the Ladyjacks start the week at 13-11 overall and 5-6 vs. the conference. They are 3-7 over their last 10 matches with wins coming against Lamar, Nicholls State and McNeese State – all of which were at home.
Stephen F. Austin ranks fourth in the conference in hitting (.205) and blocking (2.03) and have the third most service aces with 2.03 per set. The Ladyjacks' best players include conference-ranked hitters Leslie Jackson (.306), Justice Walker (.269) and Jill Ivy (.248), and libero O.J. Olson (4.82 digs/0.30 service aces). Jacque Allen has the fourth-most blocks in the conference at 1.12.
