ABILENE - Abilene Christian volleyball scored its first win of the season in dramatic fashion Tuesday night at Moody Coliseum, overcoming several deficits and a pair of match points to top UT Arlington, 3-2.
The Wildcats (1-7) won the fifth set, 18-16, and got there thanks to a 6-3 run to end game four at 25-22. ACU also won the second set 25-18, but dropped sets one and three by scores of 28-26 and 25-18.
The Wildcats started the final set ahead 4-0 only to see the Mavericks (3-5) come back several times as the lead changed hands four times. UTA took its first lead at 13-12 following one of 14 kills from Qiana Canete and reached match point at 14-13 with a kill from Zhanelle Geathers.Â
ACU called its second timeout following the point from Geathers, and tied the score at 14-14 on the first possession out of the stoppage with
Kendall Bosse (51 assists) setting up a
Lauren Walker (14 kills, .303) strike. The Mavs then came back twice to tie the score at 15-15 and 16-16.
But after Canete delivered her final kill of the evening, the Wildcats took the lead a final time on a shot from
Corinne Grandcolas and won the match after UTA's Marisah Ingram whiffed on her attempt at the net following a misplaced set.
ACU's middle blockers each had an excellent night at their position. In addition to hitting .303, Walker led the Wildcats with 18.5 points and had a hand in eight blocks (one solo) while senior
Lexi Mercier hit .265 with 13 kills and one block assist.Â
The Wildcats' defensive efforts also included 82 digs as
Amanda Chapa dug out 23 attacks and senior
Dorothy Swanson had 21. UTA hit .141 for the match as the Mavericks struggled to find consistency on offense, going from .318 attack percentage in game one to .086 in game two and -.019 in their game-four defeat.
ACU hit slightly better at .155 as sophomore outside hitter
Jacey Smith led the Wildcats with 16 kills and was part of four Wildcat blocks. Smith earlier this week was an Southland Conference Honorable Mention for Player of the Week and last Saturday was tabbed to the Omaha Classic All-Tournament Team.
Kaitlyn Granger led the Mavericks on offense with 15 kills but was held to a .136 attacking percentage. Setters Cassidy Wheeler and Claire Schwettmann combined for 44 of the team's 58 assists, and Taylor Murata had the most digs with 34.
The Wildcats return to tournament play this weekend in Lubbock, where they will face Texas Tech, UTRGV and Oral Roberts.
