NACOGDOCHES, Texas— ACU had a date with the reigning Southland Conference champions on Saturday afternoon and ran into one of the most potent defensive teams in the country. SFA is ranked in the top-30 of the NCAA in five different defensive categories and proved on the court why they are one of the top teams in country, not just the conference.
The match was all SFA from the beginning and each time the Wildcats attempted to make a run the Ladyjacks had an answer. ACU had allowed opposing teams to hit .251 on the season thus far and SFA took advantage of each offensive opportunity of the match, hitting .452 on the day. That offensive output, coupled with their top-notch defense was too much for the Wildcats to overcome.
The middles for the Wildcats had the most success on the day with
Kennedy Shelstead hitting .313 and
Lorin McNeil leading the team with two block assists.
Mackenzie Harris totaled 13 digs in the match with
Eighmy Dobbins and
Madison Rohre notching eight and seven digs, respectively.
Marybeth Sandercox led the team with seven kills, but had a down match hitting just .200 on the day.
Scoring Summary
Set 1: 13-25
Set 2: 16-25
Set 3: 14-25
Mooney Said It
On her team staying focused and competitive: "SFA is a good physical team who plays with confidence and experience. Even in a tough loss, I am proud of the way our team kept its composure and continued to fight and stay focused. Ultimately, we had too many unforced errors. Whether they were missed serves, being in the net and or unforced attack errors there were just too many."
On switching up the lineup: "Marybeth has played really well offensively for quite sometime. We train our pin attackers to play both pins in practice and we had total confidence to put her on the outside. She did a really good job adjusting to playing on the outside during the match. Brittney saw the most action she's seen all season and handled things really well. She was very low error and took care her block responsibilities well."
On preparing to come back to Moody Coliseum: "As always, we are still eager and hungry to get better. We will learn and grow from today's match. Monday's practice could not come soon enough."
News and Notes
- Sandercox's streak of six straight matches hitting .429 or better ended today.
- SFA's Taya Mitchell is ranked third in the nation for blocks per set at 1.63/set.
- SFA earned their 11th straight win and ninth straight sweep with the win.
- Brittney Roberts saw her first significant action of the season, earning two kills on a .143 hitting percentage.
- Shelstead and McNeil each totaled six kills for the Wildcats.
Up Next
ACU will return home for their next two matches after being on the road the pat two weekends. The Wildcats will host Southeastern Louisiana on Thurday, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. and New Orleans on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m.
