Women's Volleyball | 9/8/2016 10:57:00 AM
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ABILENE - Abilene Christian recorded its first win of the season Tuesday in an extended five-set battle against UT Arlington and will look to build off the success of that triumph when the Wildcats visit Lubbock for three matches between Friday and Saturday at Texas Tech's United Supermarkets Arena.
The Wildcats (1-7) play their first tournament match Friday at noon against the host Red Raiders (5-2) and again at 4 p.m. vs. UT Rio Grande Valley (4-3). Saturday's match vs. Oral Roberts (5-2) is slated to start at 2 p.m.
ACU trailed the Mavericks, 2-1, after getting beat in game three, 25-18, but hung with UTA throughout game four and finished the set on a 6-3 run after a Mavs' block tied the score at 19-19. Sophomore
Jacey Smith recorded two kills and a block assist with
Lauren Walker down the stretch in sending the Wildcats to their second fifth-set in four days.
Game five was equally intense. ACU started ahead 4-0, but near the end of the game UTA had taken its first lead at 14-13 on a kill from Zhanelle Geathers. The Mavericks, however, couldn't capitalize on two match points as the Wildcats tied the score with kills from Walker and senior
Lexi Mercier.Â
UTA knotted the game a final time at 16-16, but ACU took the lead for good on a kill from junior
Corinne Grandcolas and won the match on a botched set at the net.
In addition to hitting .303, Walker led the Wildcats with 18.5 points and had a hand in eight blocks (one solo) while Mercier hit .265 with 13 kills and one block assist. Smith led the Wildcats with 16 kills and was part of four Wildcat blocks.
The Red Raiders have won five-straight matches after starting the year 0-2 vs. Colorado and Long Beach. Their win streak started with a 3-1 victory over Portland State and continued with triumphs over South Dakota State, North Dakota State, North Dakota and UTEP.
Oral Roberts is on a five-match winning streak of its own as the Golden Eagles have bounced back from losses to Oklahoma and UMKC, which beat the Wildcats last week in Omaha. Since Aug. 27 ORU has topped UTEP and Central Arkansas in four sets and swept Alcorn State, Incarnate Word and Louisiana Monroe.
UTRGV is 4-3 but one of its wins is a 3-1 decision over Baylor. The Vaqueros also have defeated Tulane and Bethune Cookman, while all three of their losses have come either against the Islanders of Texas A&M-Corpus Christ or the Sam Houston State Bearkats.
