ABILENE – The Abilene Christian volleyball team kicks off an exciting home-and-home series against the Red Raiders of Texas Tech this Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Lubbock's United Spirit Arena. The match between newly christened NCAA Division-I West Texas rivals will be streamed live via
TexasTech.TV.
The rematch will take place at Moody Coliseum on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m.
Live stats are available for each contest.
The Wildcats and Red Raiders have not played one another since 1983 when ACU lost both matches in straight sets. ACU's history against current Big 12 schools also includes three-consecutive season openers against Baylor from 1984-86. The Wildcats won their first match vs. the Bears, but then lost the next two.
ACU started its first season as a NCAA Division I program last weekend with a solid showing at the UTA Hilton Invitational. The Wildcats began their weekend with a heartbreaking five-set loss to the Mavericks, but later rebounded to beat Louisiana Tech, 3-2, before shutting out Grambling State, 3-0.
The Wildcats hit .151 as a team, racked up 187.5 points on 136 kills and 35.5 blocks, and received a number of outstanding individual performances from the likes of outside hitter Jennie Loerch and libero
Madison Hoover, each of who earned all-tournament honors. Hoover finished her three-match tournament run with 56 digs, 11 assists, one service ace and two kills from her position, while Loerch finished with 33 kills, 15 digs, three service aces and 12 block assists.
Hoover currently ranks sixth in the Southland Conference in digs with 4.31 per match, which helped the Wildcats register the league's lowest opponent hitting percentage at 0.64. Grambling finished its three-set loss with a .000 hitting percentage.
Freshman
Lexi Mercier also looked very strong through all 13 sets as she enters the week with the Southland Conference's highest hitting percentage (.548) and the most blocks (1.92 per set) of any league player. Mercier committed only four errors on 42 attempts with 27 kills, 11 of which came in the win over Louisiana Tech. She also played a role in 25 blocks, which included nine block assists in each of the five-set decisions.
ACU currently ranks second as a team in blocks with 2.73 per set. Southeastern Louisiana is first at 2.90.
Loerch made the Southland leaderboard with 3.0 kills and 1.09 blocks per set to rank 10th and seventh, respectively.
Neely Borger's .255 hitting percentage ranks 15th among all league players, while sophomore setter
Sarah Siemens ranks seventh in assists with 7.77, and senior
Madelyn Robinett ranks 11th in service aces at 0.38 (five total).
The Red Raiders are off to a winning start as well after taking three of four matches at a tournament hosted by Weber State. Tech was blanked by Seattle in its season lid-lifter, but then returned the favor against UC Riverside before beating Grand Canyon and Weber State in four sets.
Breeann David led the Red Raiders' offense with a .360 hitting percentage and 64 kills. She also led her side with seven service aces and 13 blocks, four of which were solo efforts.
Emily Ruetter kept their offense moving smoothly with 11.71 assists per set, while Rachel Brummitt came away with the most digs at 5.36 per set.
Tech finished its road trip with a .248 hitting percentage and 30.5 blocks. Their opponents' were limited to a .171 hitting percentage.
