EL PASO – One team's elation is another's devastation. And it took one of the most improbable comebacks in recent memory for Abilene Christian volleyball to be on the winning side of a 3-2 triumph at UTEP Sunday at Memorial Gym.
The Wildcats (4-7) won by scores of 25-23, 25-27, 18-25, 29-27, 15-8 for their third-straight victory and 3-1 showing at this weekend's Borderland Invitational. UTEP, meanwhile, fell to 3-6 and will be thinking long and hard about how it let this match slip away in the pivotal fourth set.
The Miners were coming off a seven-point win in game three and started game four with a substantial 5-0 lead. That advantage soon would balloon to nine points at 15-6, and after reaching 20 points, UTEP's lead was still somewhat comfy at 20-14.
ACU called timeout at this point. So, what words of encouragement would be shared during this stoppage? What plays would be diagramed to send this match to a final set?
"When I called that time out we talked about keeping our composure, staying clam, trusting our skills, ourselves and our teammates," said head coach
Angela Mooney, who spent nine seasons as a UTEP assistant coach several years before joining the Wildcats. "(I hoped) that we would focus on one play at a time and play with the kind of confidence and grit we know we have about ourselves. They did exactly that!"
The words worked almost to perfection as ACU scored five of the next six points to close within two points at 21-19. Freshman middle blocker
Lorin McNeil got ACU rolling with a strike at the net (11K, .360) and junior outside hitter
Jacey Smith (10K, .214) followed with one of her team high four service aces. UTEP then hit the ball out of bounds three times on its next four possessions to keep ACU in the ball game at 22-20.
The Wildcats tied the score a first time at 23-23 thanks to back-to-back kills by freshman outside hitter
Katelyn Mueller (11K, 22 digs), and the game remained a see-saw battle all the way up to 27-27. Junior setter
Kendall Bosse (3K, 24 assists) would break the tie for good as outsides Smith and Mueller assisted her attacks. Mueller then won the game with her third kill of the set, getting an assist from sophomore libero
Amanda Chapa (8 assists, 15 digs).
ACU again had to rally in game five, but thankfully their deepest deficit this time was only three points (7-4). Two more UTEP attack errors pulled the Wildcats to within a point at 7-6 and Smith tied the game at 7-7 with a kill that was part of a significant 6-0 run. The Miners scored their final point on a kill from Cheyenne Jones (14K, .385) that made it a 10-8 contest, and then the Wildcats responded once more with five-straight points, getting two blocks, a kill from McNeil, and two Smith service aces to end an emotional match.
"Typically, we outblock out opponents by quite a bit," said Mooney. "(But) that did not happen today until the fifth set. We struggled with our mechanics and found ourselves making too many unforced blocking errors. Because of this we found had to rely more on our back-row defense and they responded in a way that we can really be proud of."
ACU's offense was solid most of the match, finishing with a .245 attack percentage and eight service aces as five players – McNeil, Mueller, Smith,
Lauren Walker and
Corinne Grandcolas – all scored more than 10.0 points. Smith was tops on the team with 14.5 points followed by Mueller (14.0) and McNeil (13.0). Walker hit .375 with 12 kills and Grandcolas finished with 11.5 points thanks to nine kills and four blocks (one solo).
Both Grandcolas and Bosse were voted to the Borderland Invitational's All-Tournament Team. Grandcolas averaged 2.33 kills per set this weekend with 43.5 points, while Bosse averaged 6.4 assists per set to go along with two service aces and six blocks (two solo).
"We had a very balanced attack this afternoon," added Mooney. "I was proud of how our attackers executed their priorities and stayed aggressive throughout the match. This is something we have really been working on ... We also are growing as a program and this weekend provided us some really great tests. We're obviously really pleased with the results, the resiliency and strides we made."
With today's victory, the Wildcats posted their first winning tournament record since 2013 when they went 2-1 at the UTA Hilton Invitational. They last went 3-1 at a road tournament early in the 2011 season at St. Mary's, and last won three straight non-conference road matches in September of 2010.
The Wildcats return to action Wednesday for a 6 p.m. match at North Texas. They'll then have nine days off before their Southland Conference and home opener on Sept. 23 vs. Sam Houston State.
