ABILENE – Abilene Christian volleyball looks to rebound from this past weekend's winless road trip with three Southland Conference matches, starting with Tuesday's 6 p.m. home contest vs. Nicholls (3-22, 1-11 Southland) followed by a critical road trip against a pair of 20-win programs from Central Arkansas (20-5, 10-2 Southland) and Stephen F. Austin (25-2, 12-0 Southland).
Fans coming to Tuesday's match vs. the Colonels are encouraged to wear their best Halloween costume for a chance to win prizes. The match also will be offered via video stream, while Saturday's 1 p.m. battle vs. the Ladyjacks – who the Wildcats upset last season in the first round of the Southland Conference Championship – has been picked up by ESPN3. Thursday's 6 p.m. match in Conway also will feature live video.
ACU dropped into sole possession of fourth place after falling in four sets at Houston Baptist and suffering a close sweep at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Wildcats defeated each of these teams earlier in the month at home, but couldn't complete the season sweep as the Huskies won by an average of 4.3 points per set and the Islanders by an even thinner margin of 2.3 points.
Tuesday's match vs. the Colonels is the Wildcats' third in-conference rematch, and first to be contested at Moody Coliseum. The Wildcats topped the Colonels earlier this season (Oct. 13) in Thibodaux in four sets, winning the final three by scores of 25-11, 25-22 and 25-15. ACU now leads the all-time series, 5-4.
ACU trails in its all-time series vs. SFA, 2-6, but both those wins have taken place since 2016 as the Wildcats won each time in five sets, but they've yet to beat the Ladyjacks – winners of 22 straight matches – on their home court in Nacogdoches.
Central Arkansas remains the only school ACU has yet to beat since joining the Southland Conference in 2013. The Bears – winners of last year's league championship match vs. ACU – have only dropped four sets to the Wildcats through six matches.
