Box Score
ABILENE – Sophomore setter
Sarah Siemens hit .400 and finished a kill shy of a triple-double in the Wildcats' 3-1 loss to second-place Northwestern State Halloween night at Moody Coliseum.
The Lady Demons (15-10, 11-2) won by scores of 25-12, 23-25, 25-16 and 25-16 to keep pace with Sam Houston State (14-8, 11-2) and Central Arkansas (21-3, 13-0) in the race for the Southland Conference's regular-season title.
With the loss, ACU fell to 6-17 overall and 2-10 within their new league, but Siemens' performance tonight was a bit of a bright spot as she dug out 14 attacks and provided a game-high 29 assists; however, she needed just one more kill to capture the elusive scoring feat. She attempted 20 attacks overall and was successful nine times with just one error.
Unfortunately, the majority of the ACU attack was stymied by a Lady Demon defense that dug out 75 attacks and blocked 7.0 shots in holding the Wildcats to a .114 hitting percentage. Glynna Johnson was credited with four of those blocks (three solo) to go along with eight kills and was one of five Northwestern State players to finish with 10 or more points.
Mackenzie Neely led all players tonight with 17 points on 12 kills and five service aces, while Ashley Elrod collected 14 kills on 41 tries (.293). Stacey DiFrancesco had 11 points on the strength of nine kills and Caiti O'Connell finished with 10.5 points.
On the Wildcats' side, sophomore outside hitter Jennie Loerch delivered a block assist and 13 kills, two of which came during the final moments of ACU's game two victory. Loerch brought her team to match point off an assist from Siemens, and then after Northwestern State cut ACU's deficit to 24-23, Loerch came through with the game-winner.
Elsewhere on the court tonight, three Wildcats (Siemens,
Caley Johnson and
Madison Hoover) finished with 10 or more digs, while freshman
Lexi Mercier was part of three blocks that lifted her season total to 112.
ACU returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m. for a Parents' Day match vs. Stephen F. Austin.
