SAN ANTONIO – Abilene Christian volleyball came up short in its attempt to clinch the eighth and final spot in the Southland Conference Championship Thursday night after suffering a 3-1 loss at Incarnate Word by scores of 25-21, 25-22, 20-25, 25-22.
The loss dropped ACU's overall and league records to 11-16 and 7-8, narrowing the gap between the Wildcats and Cardinals (7-15, 6-9 Southland) in the conference standings to one game with one match remaining.
Both teams play their final match Saturday. Sam Houston State, which has lost five of its last six matches, visits the McDermott Center for an 11 a.m. match vs. the Cardinals, while red-hot Texas A&M-Corpus Christi plays host to the Wildcats at noon. The Islanders have won four of their last five decisions – all sweeps – since falling 3-2 at ACU on Oct. 19.
Sam Houston State and Corpus Christi are part of a four-team logjam, all tied for third-place at 10-5 with McNeese and Houston Baptist. The Cowgirls currently own the league's longest winning streak at five matches, and their 3-2 victory tonight over Central Arkansas cost the Bears the regular-season title.
So, who will be facing Stephen F. Austin in the No. 1 vs. No. 8 match next Friday in Corpus Christi? The Wildcats or Cardinals?
A win gets ACU into the postseason; however, a loss needs to be coupled with an Incarnate Word defeat to the Bearkats. And if both schools should finish 7-9, then it's time to study the league's
tie-breaking procedures.
Tonight's decision at UIW cancelled out the first-two tiebreaking scenarios as the Wildcats and Cardinals split the season series with an equal number of sets won (4). The next item for the league to consider is the teams' won-lost results against the highest-positioned team(s) they both played twice, and ironically enough those roles belong to Saturday's opposition – Corpus Christi (13-13, 10-5) and Sam Houston (14-14, 10-5).
ACU finished Thursday's match with four players reaching a double-digit scoring total but a .189 attacking percentage and 16 service errors hindered any possible shot at a comeback. In fact, two miscues early in the fourth set provided the Cardinals with a steady 11-6 lead, and try as they might, the Wildcats never dug out of that hole completely despite tying the score at 14 and 17.
UIW scored six of the next eight points in snapping the 17-17 deadlock and reached match point on a service error. A kill by junior setter Kendall Bosse (43 assists, 2 aces, 3 blocks, 11 digs) kept ACU alive for another breath, cutting the Cardinal lead to 24-22, but Bryaunea Hall (.238, 7 blocks) finished matters on the next rally with her ninth kill of the match.
The Cardinals hit .216 overall with five players recording as many as 20 attacks and Autumn Lockley (12K) Sarea Alexander (10K) combining for 27.5 points. Hall was third with 13.0 points and led a Cardinal block that came through with 14 rejections to eight for the Wildcats.
ACU's offense was paced by its outside hitters Katelyn Mueller (15K), Jacey Smith (10K) and Corinne Grandcolas (9K), but its two starting middle blockers – Lauren Walker and Lorin McNeil – were limited to a .065 hitting percentage with six block assists. Courtney Miller came off the bench in the final two sets and provided a slight spark, connecting on four of five attempts with a dig and two block assists.
The Wildcats led several times in the first set – but never by more than one point – and after going up 10-9 on the home team, the Cardinals countered with a an 8-3 run that gave them the lead for good. And it wasn't until UIW reached its largest lead of the set at 23-18 that the Wildcats finally strung together three consecutive points that forced the Cardinals into a time out.
But after ACU cut the Cardinals' lead to 23-21, Hope Kelly delivered one of her eight kills and was at the service line for the Wildcats' game-ending attack error.
The second set was even more painful for the Wildcats as they let slip away a trio of three-point leads, the last of which was at 18-15. And after ACU was the first to reach 20 points, the Cardinals zoomed back with a set-ending 7-2 run, which was ignited by four-consecutive points.
The Wildcats' third-set performance featured a solid start with the visitors jumping out to a 13-6 advantage. However, UIW made it a game once more with a 6-1 run that pulled it to within a point of the lead at 17-16. ACU pulled away a final time with three-straight points. Bosse and Miller curbed the Cardinals' charge with a block, followed by a Bosse ace and Cardinals' attack error.
Back-to-back kills from Miller and Smith put the Wildcats up 22-17 and the margin of victory would remain the same as ACU and UIW exchanged the final six points of the third set. Unfortunately, no momentum carried over into the final set with the Cardinals jumping out to leads of 5-1, 7-2 and 10-3.
