NACOGDOCHES, Texas – A member of the Abilene Christian volleyball team reached a career milestone for the second time in as many matches Saturday. Two days ago, senior setter
Kendall Bosse attained 3,000 assists and today middle blocker
Lauren Walker rang up her 400th career block during a 3-1 loss at Stephen F. Austin. Walker's total ranks sixth all-time at ACU behind Linda Evans (676), Shauna Hines (602), Amanda Slate (500), Lindsay DeHoff (471) and the Wildcats' D1-era leader
Lexi Mercier (469).
Walker totaled 12.0 points vs. SFA, collecting nine kills and five blocks, but the Ladyjacks (24-2, 14-0) overall continued their dominant run against the Southland Conference winning by scores of 25-18, 23-25, 25-21 and 25-11 in extending their winning streak to 24 matches. They are now assured of the top seed in the league's postseason tournament, while the Wildcats (13-14, 10-5) are locked into fourth place after Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (7-7) dropped a 3-2 decision vs. Northwestern State (6-7).
The Lady Demons will play host to this year's championship, which begins Nov. 15.
The Ladyjacks today built up three separate leads of seven points in the opening set, including an early 16-9 advantage. A service error combined with a kill from middle blocker
Kennedy Shelstead (7K) pushed ACU's point total into double-digits, but SFA responded with some blocks, and subsequent kills from Anyia Williams and Ann Hollas built its lead back to six points at 21-15.
ACU again trailed early in the second set before back-to-back SFA miscues opened the door, and the Wildcats took advantage with points from senior
Jacey Smith (13K, 14 digs) and Walker. The teams then swapped points for a bit until a quick 5-0 burst from the Ladyjacks provided them a 14-8 lead.
But the Wildcats kept fighting.
After falling behind 15-8, ACU went on to score 11 of the next 12 points thanks to four kills from Smith, one of which gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the afternoon at 19-16. SFA would then even the set with three straight points, only to see ACU counter with one final run at the very end.
Kills from Mueller and
Kendall Bosse (39 assists, seven digs) pushed the Wildcat lead to 24-21, and after the home team closed to within a point, ACU received another kill from Walker to even the match at one set apiece.
The Wildcats held a couple of early leads in set three, including 4-2, 7-4 and 9-8, but couldn't quite catch the Ladyjacks after a 9-1 run gave them an 18-10 lead. ACU battled back to close the gap to 22-20 after a combination of four kills and two blocks were coupled with a handful of SFA miscues such as a Hollas attack error and McKenzie Brewer ball-handling error, but after their head coach was assessed a yellow card, the Ladyjacks closed the set on a 3-1 burst.
The fourth set was all Ladyjacks, starting with a 5-0 lead. And after the Wildcats trimmed their deficit to three points, SFA ran away with the set and match via a 19-8 run.
ACU has close to a week off before closing out the regular season Saturday, Nov. 10 against Sam Houston State in Moody Coliseum. Senior Day gets underway at 1 p.m.
