ABILENE - Abilene Christian volleyball overpowered the Houston Baptist Huskies in a dominant third set, but errors beforehand and afterward got the best of the home team as it dropped a four-set decision to HBU Thursday night at Moody Coliseum by scores of 25-28, 25-17, 20-25 and 25-16.
ACU (2-18, 0-7 Southland) hit .353 in game three, committing just three errors on 34 attempts to go along with 15 kills. Junior outside hitter
Jennifer Loerch led the charge in cutting HBU's lead to 2-1 with seven kills and a .500 hitting percentage, while
Taylor Nix and
Lexi Mercier combined for two blocks. The set also included an ace from junior setter
Sarah Siemens and 15 team digs - seven of which were made by new libero
Brooke Ray.
The Wildcats started the third game in a 3-0 hole after being badly outhit in games one and two, but steadily began to come back thanks to Loerch's proficient attack. And then the ace by Siemens gave the Wildcats their first lead of the night at 7-6, which they would not relinquish.
HBU closed to within a point on five occasions down the stretch, but was ultimately subdued by a 5-3 run that put the Wildcats comfortably ahead by four points at 21-17. A kill by Jessica Wooten got the Huskies to within three points of a possible sweep at 23-20, but Loerch responded with back-to-back kills off assists from Siemens, who had 36 assists tonight.
Game five, unfortunately, got away from the Wildcats in a hurry as the Huskies took off on a 8-1 run after Loerch tied the score at 2-2. ACU made a little noise midway through the set and closed to within three points at 14-11 after the Huskies recorded three errors through five possessions, but the visitors quickly recovered from their miscues by getting several points from Allison Doerpinghaus on three kills and two block assists.
Doerpinghaus' second block alongside Kayla Armer pushed the Huskies lead out to 20-12 and they weren't threatened the rest of the way.
HBU hit .221 for the night led by 18 kills from Jessica Wooten and 13 kills from Megan McStravick. Armer had 46 assists and seven of her team's 59 digs.
Mercier had a great night at the net for the Wildcats, contributing 10 points on seven kills (.600) and six block assists.
Loerch led all Wildcats with 15 kills.
The Wildcats complete their two-game homestand Saturday when they play host to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 2 p.m.
