HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Abilene Christian volleyball dropped another Southland Conference match in heart-breaking fashion Saturday, losing 3-0 at Sam Houston State by scores of 30-28, 29-27 and 25-20.
In a match that featured 21 ties and 17 lead changes, the Wildcats had two set points in the first set and three in the second but simply couldn't work their way past the Bearkats, who improved to 11-7 (4-1) with the victory. The loss dropped ACU's season and conference records to 2-17 and 0-6.
The Wildcats hit .157 led by
Jennifer Loerch's 11 kills, while the Bearkats were carried offensively by Deveney Wells-Gibson's 19 kills. Sam Houston also delivered nine service aces, but was outblocked by the Wildcats, 8.0 to 3.0. Half of the Wildcats' blocks came during the latter stages of game three as they tried to battle back from a 12-point deficit.
Sophomore
Lexi Mercier had three blocks (one solo, four assists) and freshman
Corinne Grandcolas was part of four block assists.
The Wildcats had two chances to win the first set with the score in their favor at 27-26 and 28-27, but kills from Jordyn Vaughn (nine kills) and Carling Urben (nine kills) tied the score each time. SHSU then took the lead for good on an attack error by junior setter
Sarah Siemens (22 assists) and won it on a block from Urben and Michelle Griffith.
ACU led by as many as three points (22-19) in game two, but let things slip away despite reaching a 24-22 lead on a kill from Loerch. The Bearkats stormed right back, however, with consecutive points by Shelby Genung and Wells-Gibson that tied the game at 24-24.
The Wildcats regained the lead twice more at 26-25 and 27-26 with the last of their points scored by Mercier. But right afterward, the Bearkats received three consecutive points - one from Griffith and two courtesy of Wells-Gibson.
ACU never grabbed a lead in game three as the Bearkats jumped out to leads of 9-3 and 22-10. The Wildcats began to make some noise late and cut their deficit to five thanks to a 8-1 run.
The Wildcats return home to Moody Coliseum Thursday and Saturday for matches vs. Houston Baptist (7 p.m.) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2 p.m.).
