ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats on Saturday couldn't find their Moody Magic as they dropped their Southland Conference opener, 3-1, to Sam Houston State in front of a nice crowd at Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats – who were undefeated last at home last year (9-0) and 15-2 at home over the previous two seasons – dropped their 2017 home-opener mainly because they hit just .132 in the four-set loss to the Bearkats. ACU had 46 kills and 26 errors on 152 total attacks, their third-most errors in a match this season.
ACU won the first set, 25-18, but the Bearkats rallied to win the final three sets, 25-18, 25-21, 25-18, to snap ACU's home-court winning streak at nine straight. The Wildcats never could sustain any momentum as each time they pulled to within one or two points the Bearkats had an answer to pull away.
The Wildcats had no answer for the Sam Houston State trio of Taylor Cunningham (17 kills, .467 hitting percentage), Brooke White (15 kills) and Jordan Vaughn (14 kills). Sam Houston (4-9 overall and 1-0 in the Southland) hit just .192 in the match, but were able to get key points when they needed them in the final three sets.
ACU was led by senior
Corinne Grandcolas, who had 11 kills, while freshman
Katelyn Mueller had 10 kills.
Kendall Bosse led the Wildcats with 31 assists and 12 digs.
Lauren Walker,
Jacey Smith and
Lorin McNeil each had seven kills for the Wildcats, who are now 4-9 overall and 0-1 in the league.
The Wildcats are back in action Tuesday at 6 p.m. when they host McNeese in the second match of a four-match homestead between Saturday and next Saturday (Sept. 30). ACU will also host Southeastern Louisiana at 6 p.m. Thursday before closing out the homestand next Saturday with a 1 p.m. match against New Orleans.
