ACU vs. Northern Arizona Live Stats
ACU vs. New Mexico Live Stream | Live Stats
ACU vs. Towson Live Stats
ABILENE – Fresh off Tuesday night's momentous 3-1 triumph over Texas Tech, the Abilene Christian volleyball team will hit the road once again this weekend in search of three tournament victories at the Lobo Invitational hosted by the University of New Mexico.
The Wildcats begin the two-day event with a Friday 4:30 p.m. (MT) match vs. Northern Arizona followed by a Saturday doubleheader vs. the Lobos (1 p.m.) and Towson (5 p.m.). ACU's match vs. New Mexico will be live streamed. There will also be live stats available for all three contests.
The Wildcats' win over the Red Raiders was one of the biggest in program history and improved their season record to 3-2. ACU dominated the first set, winning 25-11, but quickly faltered in the second game, 25-13. The Wildcats then stormed back to win the third set, 25-18, before holding on to win the deciding fourth game, 26-24.
Sophomore setter
Sarah Siemens didn't consider her team's victory an upset, but still felt surprised by the end result when asked about it Wednesday at ACU's weekly media luncheon.
"I'm still in kind of shock, but it was all really exciting and I just kept watching the final point over and over again … I couldn't believe it," she said. "At that point (late in the fourth set) we knew we could win, knew we could take it, but we were so nervous about being so close. It was nerve racking."
Siemens finished the match with 35 assists (8.75 per set) and was there at the net to set up
Lexi Mercier's game-winning kill. She also provided five kills and two blocks, leading ACU head coach Kellen Mock to say that Siemen's performance was her best as a Wildcat.
"She was frustrated earlier in the week because we're making her work so much harder both physically and mentally," said Mock. "But those two areas came together last night for her and I was very impressed.
"All the girls put a ton of effort and energy into everything we do – this year especially because it's all such a new experience and all of our opponents are physically dominating. The girls could have gone in lots of different directions this season; however, they're only thinking about working as hard as they can to prove that they deserve to be here at this level."
The Wildcats will certainly be tested Saturday by host New Mexico, which enters this weekend at 5-1 after going 3-0 at the Sheraton Airport Lobo Classic. The Lobos last weekend swept both UC Riverside and Idaho State on the first day of the tournament, before taking a 3-1 contest from Georgia Tech.
Three Lobos earned tournament honors for their play. Senior libero Miquella Lovato recorded 48 digs on the weekend, and for the second time this season, led all players in a four-team tournament in digs. Redshirt sophomore setter Hannah Johnson had 110 assists, including a season-high 41 against the Yellow Jackets, and redshirt junior Chantale Riddle was the unanimous choice for Most Valuable Player. The right-side hitter had a tournament-best 45 kills and hit .340. She also added 26 digs and seven blocks while recording 48.5 points.
Northern Arizona also is 5-1 and coming off a 2-1 weekend at its Fiesta Bowl Tournament. NAU opened its home tournament with a sweep of Mountain West preseason No. 1 San Diego State, 28-26, 30-28, 25-22, on Sept. 6, before sweeping Idaho and dropping a four-set decision to Cal State Northridge.
Sophomore outside hitter Janae Vander Ploeg leads the team with 3.26 kills-per-set and adds 2.63 digs/set. Junior middle blocker Taylor Stephens averages 1.68 kills/set and leads the Lumberjacks in blocks with a set average of 1.11. Setting duties are handled by freshman Jensen Barton who averages 10.58 assists/set.
The Towson Tigers are 3-6 overall and coming off a 3-0 loss at the University of Maryland Baltimore County on Sept. 10. Last weekend, Towson went 1-2 at the N.C. State Tournament in Raleigh, N.C. The Tigers took Binghamton in five sets before being swept by Appalachian State and then dropping a 3-1 contest to North Carolina State.
Outside hitter Saitaua Iosia leads the Tigers with a 2.91 kills-per-set average and has a total of 93 kills over nine matches. Right-side hitter Victoria Williams is second on the team with a set average of 2.62 kills. Kelsey Polak is the Tigers' setter and has a 7.73 assist-per-set average.
"No matter the sport as we make this D-I transition together, we really don't know how we match up against these other schools so it's kind of hard to say what is or isn't an upset," said Mock. "We just don't know, but at the same time I think all of our coaches and student-athletes are ready for this moment, and if anything, Tuesday night was a good indication that we've stepped up our game. We've been stressing playing great volleyball from the start and it doesn't matter who is playing on the other side of the court."
Information from GoLobos.com was used in this release.
