BEAUMONT, Texas - Abilene Christian volleyball used a brilliant 6-0 run to force a fifth game at Lamar Thursday night, but once there the Cardinals gained complete control and ultimately staved off the Wildcats by scores of 22-25, 25-17, 25-21, 23-25, 15-6.
The victory was Lamar's second of the season as it evened its conference record to 2-2, while ACU fell to 2-16 and 0-5 vs. the Southland with four of those losses going the distance.
The Wildcats hit .078 tonight with a majority of the attacks split between junior
Jennifer Loerch, who led all players with 19 kills, and sophomore
Dorothy Swanson, who delivered a double-double of 12 kills and 15 digs.
Swanson was one of four Wildcats to post a double-digit dig total along with junior setter
Sarah Siemens (14 digs, 38 assists), Loerch (17) and sophomore
Brooke Ray (12).
By comparison, the Cardinals hit .226, including .435 in game five as they ripped 10 kills on 23 attempts with no errors. Cortney Moore led her side with 16 kills, followed by Autumn Taylor with 14, Chelsea Grant with 13 and Amethyst Hollowell with 12.
Additionally, Grant was part of five of her team's 9.0 blocks. ACU, meanwhile, had 7.0 blocks as sophomore middle blocker
Lexi Mercier finished with two solos and four assists.
After capturing the first set on a kill by redshirt junior
Rachel Riley, the Wildcats quickly had the tables turn on them in games two and three, losing by eight and four points, respectively. It then appeared ACU would have trouble gaining on the Cardinals in game four as the home team jumped out to leads of 4-0 and 21-17.
But the Wildcats rallied at the tail end of the set with a remarkable 6-0 run that started with a Lauren Stahlman service error. The Wildcats then got within two points at 23-21 on a kill by Loerch, and made it a one-point game on an error by Alaina Dock.
That forced the Cardinals to burn a timeout.
Afterward, another error - this time by Moore - tied the score a ninth time at 23-23. Loerch followed with a kill and Ray scored the final point with one of ACU's four service aces.
The Wildcats' momentum was abruptly stopped, however, as Lamar started game five ahead 3-0 on a service error and two kills. ACU twice would get within a point during the early goings (4-3 and 5-4), but a 5-0 Cardinals' run that put them ahead at 10-5 essentially sealed the victory as the Wildcats would score just once more over the final six possessions.
ACU returns to action Saturday for an 11 a.m. match at Sam Houston State.
