ABILENE - Abilene Christian volleyball received 10 kills apiece from sophomore
Jacey Smith and freshman
Marybeth Sandercox, and the defense came away with 10 blocks, as the Wildcats kept their home winning streak alive Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Lamar at Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats (10-19) won by scores of 25-15, 25-21 and 25-18 and are now 7-0 at home with two matches remaining on the schedule. Today's victory also tied last year's conference win total of nine (9-5) and kept ACU tied for third place with Sam Houston State.
ACU's offense was on point today with the team hitting a season high of .310. Smith and Sandercox recorded the team's highest kill totals, but
Lexi Mercier scored the second-most points with 11.5 as she contributed five block assists to go along with her nine kills (.368). Sophomore setter
Kendall Bosse (32 assists) also was stellar on the attack, putting away 8 of 11 attempts with one error (.636).Â
Defensively, the Wildcats limited the Cardinals to a .103 hitting percentage, including -57 percent in the first game. Freshman libero
Amanda Chapa had the most digs with 16 and senior
Dorothy Swanson was close behind with 11 to go along with three blocks (one solo).
ACU started game one down 3-1, but never trailed the rest of the way after taking off on a 8-2 run that gave them a 9-5 lead. From there Lamar wouldn't get any closer than three points of the lead and the Wildcats put the game to rest with a 6-1 run that featured three blocks.
Another early burst by the Wildcats in game two put them ahead 14-7 and they would rely on much of that cushion down the stretch as Lamar pulled to within three points at 22-19, forcing ACU to burn a timeout. The Wildcats went back up by four points on a kill by Smith coming out of the stoppage. The Cardinals then scored the next two points on a Amy Holloway kill and Chelsea Grant service ace, but ACU responded with consecutive kills from Mercier and Bosse to take a 2-0 lead into the break.
The Wildcats started to run away with game three, but a slight injury to Chapa that held her out for several possessions helped the Cardinals reduce a six-point deficit all the way down to two. ACU called a timeout with its lead quickly shrinking and was fortunate to get ball back after Dannisha House was called for a ball-handling error. The Wildcats then went on a 4-0 run to regain their six-point cushion at 17-11 thanks to a pair of kills from Smith and Sandercox, and Chapa returned to the rotation in time for a match-ending 4-1 run. The last two points of the match were awarded to Swanson, who finished her afternoon with seven points.
ACU returns to action next Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. home match vs. Nicholls. Senior Day is set for a week from today on Nov. 12 vs. McNeese.Â
