COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Abilene Christian senior setter
Sarah Siemens recorded her second double-double of the season and 26th of her career Saturday morning during a 3-0 loss to New Mexico State and reigning AVCA National Player of the Week Gwen Murphy at Texas A&M's Reed Arena.
The Aggies won by scores of 25-21, 25-14 and 25-20 to remain undefeated this season at 5-0, while the Wildcats fell to 0-5. ACU will again play later this afternoon vs. Texas A&M in a
SEC Network + match at 4:30 p.m.
For her part Siemens hit .600 with seven kills on 10 (one error) and assisted on 24 kills to go along with 10 digs and a pair of block assists. Unfortunately, her team as a whole was outhit by New Mexico State .315 to .218 despite hitting .324 in a four-point loss in game one.
ACU's individual hitting percentages in the opening set were mostly above average. Middle blocker
Lexi Mercier ripped four kills on five tries, sophomore
Corinne Grandcolas hit .375 with three kills, and senior outside hitter Jennie Loerch batted .273 with four kills and three digs.
The Wildcats, defensively, also outblocked the Aggies in game on 4.0-1.0, but repeatedly hurt themselves at the service line where they made five errors (seven for the match).
One of those service errors came right after the Wildcats came back from two points down to tie the score a fourth and final time at 12-12. NMSU capitalized on the miscue and immediately pushed its advantage back out to three points on a kill from Murphy and an ace by Brianna Ainsworth.
The Wildcats wouldn't get any closer the rest of the way, losing by four, and trailed most of the way in game two's nine-point defeat.
ACU showed some grit late in game three by going on a 6-3 run to tie the score at 19-19, but NMSU called a timeout following a Bradley Nash attack error and came out of the stoppage with a little more fire and determination. The Aggies won the next four points via two kills, a block and an ace, and then received back-to-back kills from Nathali Castellanos and Andrea Tauai to close out the game and match.
Tauau led her side with 12 kills (.375), 15.5 points and 16 digs.
Loerch had the most kills for ACU with 11, and senior libero
Madison Hoover recorded 15 digs.
