ABILENE – Abilene Christian volleyball moved into fourth place in the Southland Conference and ran its home-winning streak to five following a 25-15, 25-20, 25-23 sweep of Southeastern Louisiana Saturday at Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats are now 6-4 against the league, while the Lions, who were hampered today by 11 service errors, fell to 4-5.
ACU hit above .230 for the second-straight match with setter
Sarah Siemens producing 31 of the team's three-set season-high 41 assists, and on defense, the Wildcats dug out 61 attacks and blocked 4.0 shots in holding SLU to a .165 attacking percentage. Libero
Madison Hoover led all players with 19 digs and Siemens was second with 10.
On the block, freshman
Kendall Bosse rejected 4.0 shots to finish with a game high 13.5 points that included nine kills and a pair of aces. Senior
Jennifer Loerch also had a good day offensively with 12 kills and .333 hitting percentage.
ACU took complete control in game one, never trailing and outhitting the Lions, .333 to .122, as Loerch, Bosse and freshman
Jacey Smith all totaled four kills. Game two was a bit more competitive as the Lions switched out their setter and libero, resulting in a 60-point improvement on the attack, but after taking a 16-15 lead the Wildcats responded with a 5-0 run that featured the two Bosse service aces in addition to kills from Siemens and Smith.
Later in the game ACU received consecutive points on a kill from Siemens followed by a Bosse/
Lexi Mercier block. Loerch then put her side ahead 2-0 with her third kill of the set.
ACU got off to a fine start in game three, taking leads of 3-0 and 9-6, but the advantage didn't last long as the Lions reeled off a 5-1 run to take their first lead at 11-10. From there the two sides were never separated by more than a point until the end when a kill by Loerch and a Bosse/Mercier block provided the Wildcats with a 22-20 lead.
Another kill from Bosse made it 23-21 and a Lions attack error brought ACU to match point. Southeastern made things interesting once more as a kill from Friedman was followed by a solo block from Vernoica Turk, but following a Wildcats timeout, server Madi Odom struck the netting for the Lions' seventh error of the game.
Odom dug out eight attacks for the Lions, but hurt them with three service errors and five additional miscues on the attack (.-214).
Landry Bullock recorded the best overall performance for SLU, hitting .448 (13-of-29) with no errors. Parrie Hartley was second on the Lions with 9.0 points.
The Wildcats conclude their homestand Monday at 6:30 p.m. vs. Nicholls. A recognition ceremony for seniors Hoover, Loerch and Siemens will take place postgame.
