DENVER, Colo. - Abilene Christian volleyball lost both ends of a doubleheader Saturday to conclude its stay at the Denver Invitational. The Wildcats lost 3-1 this morning to Illinois-Chicago and dropped a 3-0 decision in prime time to the host Pioneers.
The two defeats dropped ACU to 0-13 on the season. The Wildcats will return to action Thursday, Sept. 24 for the start of Southland Conference competition at Central Arkansas. Match time is 7 p.m.
Game 1 | UIC 3, Abilene Christian 0UIC's Stephenee Yancy was a menace at the net and on the attack Saturday morning as the senior middle blocker collected 29.5 points in the Flames' 3-1 win (25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 26-24) over Abilene Christian. Yancy hit .383 with 26 kills on 47 attempts and added six blocks, one of which a solo effort.
The Wildcats also had a good day on the block, finishing with 13.0 rejections, but experienced some difficulty on offense, posting a .172 hitting percentage that was 50 points lower than that UIC's.
Freshman
Lauren Walker was part of six blocks and her 12.5 points led all Wildcats, while senior
Jennifer Loerch was right behind her with 12.0 points, all of which were on kills.
Elsewhere,
Lexi Mercier scored 7.0 points on seven blocks and three kills and newcomer
Lillian Drever drilled home a pair of service aces.
For the fifth time this season ACU won the third set after starting in a 2-0 deficit, only to be foiled late in game four.
The Wildcats maneuvered their way quite well around the Flames in game three by avoiding UIC's block and hitting .412 with just one error.
Walker was especially clutch in the latter moments as she accumulated four points during a crucial 6-1 Wildcat run that gave them a 23-17 lead. A kill by freshman
Jacey Smith brought ACU to match point a few possessions later, and then Walker delivered again off one of 33 assists by
Sarah Siemens.
ACU appeared primed and ready for a fifth game after taking off on another late run during which the Wildcats ripped four consecutive kills to go up by three points at 18-15.
The Flames, however, proved tough to extinguish and made several comebacks to tie the score at each point from 20 to 24 before ending matters with back-to-back scores from Kyisha Hunt, who finished the match with 11.0 points
Game 2 | Denver 3, Abilene Christian 0The Pioneers hit .376, blocked 12.4 shots and delivered two aces in their 25-10, 25-19, 25-11 victory over the Wildcats.
Tournament MVP Moni Corrujedo hit .320 with 12 kills on 25 attempts, while all-tournament team selections Sarah Schmid and Kayla Principato combined for 15.5 points on 11 kills.
The Wildcats, meanwhile, were led on the court offensively by Jennie Loerch's seven kills, and received five each from newcomers
Lauren Walker,
Jacey Smith and
Kendall Bosse.
