Hey, UNO What? Volleyball hosting Privateers Saturday

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ABILENE – Abilene Christian's four-match homestand reaches its conclusion Saturday when the Wildcats play host to the New Orleans Privateers at 1 p.m. A win over UNO would even the Wildcats' Southland Conference record at 2-2 following an 0-2 start.

ACU (5-10) earned its coveted first conference victory in game three of its homestand Thursday night, sweeping the Lady Lions of Southeastern Louisiana by scores of 25-19, 25-22 and 25-13. The Wildcats received a game-high nine kills from junior Jacey Smith and six blocks from her classmate Lauren Walker, but where the Wildcats were most effective was the service area, dropping in a dozen aces to set a season high.

In fact, the Wildcats' 12 aces were the most by any Southland team in conference play this season and the most by any ACU team since 2007 (14 at Southeastern Oklahoma). 

"The aces played a huge role in our victory," said head coach Angela Mooney. "The team that wins the serve and pass will control the match. They (SLU) became one-dimensional because of our service pressure, which in turn allowed our block to do great things."

The Wildcats blocked 10 shots and have out blocked the opposition in nine of their 15 matches this season, including all three Southland opponents. 

ACU now ranks second in the conference behind Houston Baptist (2.50) with 2.40 blocks per set. Walker and freshman teammate Lorin McNeil rank seventh and eighth, respectively, among the league leaders with 1.05 and 1.03 blocks per set. 

Elsewhere, junior setter Kendall Bosse is ranked eighth in SLC assists with 7.76 per set, while sophomore libero Amanda Chapa is third in digs with 4.44.

New Orleans enters Saturday's contest with overall and conference records of 7-8 and 1-2 following Thursday night's 3-1 loss at Sam Houston State. The Privateers' lone win is a 3-2 decision vs. Incarnate Word. They've also lost in five sets to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. 

Leading UNO at the net is junior Kaitlyn Grice, who is the league's No. 2 attacker with a .353 hitting percentage (125K on 272 attempts) and its second-ranked blocker with 1.28 blocks per set. ACU also will have to be cautious of junior and .293 hitter Lane Hindenburg (116K on 273 attempts) and right side freshman Kyra Hunter (2.39 points per set).

"UNO has bigger, more physical kids who we'll need to control at net," said Mooney. "They have a good blocking presence (2.12 per set), so we have to look to evenly distribute the ball to keep the blockers at bay. We can't be predictable with our offense."

ACU leads its all-time series with the Privateers, 4-0, dating back to 2013.