Volleyball to North Texas for final preseason match

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ABILENE – Abilene Christian's challenging non-conference schedule reaches its conclusion Wednesday when the Wildcats visit the Mean Green for a 6 p.m. match at the North Texas Volleyball Center.
 
The Mean Green is off to a terrific 8-1 start with victories coming against a diverse pool of competition, including Tulsa, Boston College, Oregon State and New Orleans. In fact, their lone defeat was a 3-1 decision to Texas Tech, which also beat the Wildcats 3-0 on Labor Day.
 
The Wildcats (4-7) have since rebounded since their defeat to the Red Raiders by going 3-1 at this past weekend's Borderland Invitational. Two of their wins were five-set triumphs over Samford and UTEP. New Mexico State swept ACU, but the Wildcats also earned a 3-0 victory vs. Delaware State that helped the program secure its first winning tournament weekend since 2013.
 
ACU outhit its opposition .238 to .188 during the tournament and came away with 22 aces, 223 digs, a +13.0 block margin (41-28) and 12.38 kills per set.
 
Junior middle blocker Lauren Walker led ACU in scoring with 45.5 points as she hit .307 to go along with 2.19 kills and 1.06 blocks per set. For her efforts, Walker made the Borderland Invitational All-Tournament Team and received honorable mention for Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
 
Junior setter Kendall Bosse additionally received all-tournament honors, averaging 6.38 assists per set with six blocks, 32 digs, two aces and seven kills. Additionally, her distribution on offense was remarkably spread out as five players (Walker, Jacey Smith, Corinne Grandcolas, Lorin McNeil and Katelyn Mueller) all averaged two or more kills per set – this same quintet also scored between 42 and 45.5 points.
 
The Wildcats will have nine days off from competition after the North Texas match, and head coach Angela Mooney is looking forward to the break since her team played its first 12 matches within 20 days.
 
"The preseason has been a real tough grind," she said, "and now during this recovery time I think we're going to refocus on fundamentals and small details … This schedule has truly prepared us well for the upcoming conference season because I think the a wide spectrum of talent that we've seen will show up again among the Southland schools."