ABILENE—The Wildcats traveled to UIW and A&M-CC last weekend for their last regular season road trip of 2019. ACU struggled on the road once again, dropping both matches and falling to 3-11 in Southland play. The Wildcats are not quite eliminated from conference tournament contention as they could find themselves in a three-way tie for eighth place if they can earn key wins this weekend when they host McNeese and Lamar.
Wildcats weekend outlook
Possibly one of the most important weekends for ACU volleyball since moving Division-I, as their postseason hopes are on the line. The Wildcats need to win out this weekend to even have a minor chance at earning a tie-break win for a chance to clinch the last seed in the Southland Conference tournament. The team as struggled on the road this season, but all three of their conference wins have come at home and they hope to continue to earn wins to close out the 2019 regular season. ACU will also need help from both Nicholls and New Orleans in the form of losses, if they hope to tie for the final spot.
The Wildcats match up favorably with both McNeese and Lamar, but when they met these teams on the road earlier this season they dropped both matches. Last weekend, the team saw a resurgence from
Marybeth Sandercox as she hit over .500 on the weekend and led the team in total kills. The blocking game came alive once again for ACU as middles,
Kennedy Shelstead and
Lorin McNeil, were a big part of a solid defensive effort for the Wildcats last weekend.
Mackenzie Harris has resumed her role at libero and has excelled over the past two weeks, averaging 4.62 digs per set in her last three matches.
Scouting the opponent
McNeese was a tough matchup for the Wildcats in Lake Charles, with the Cowgirls earning a straight set win. The team continues to pace the Southland in aces per set at 1.69 per set. After starting conference play 1-8, the Cowgirls have gone 3-2 over their last five matches with wins over SHSU, UIW, and Nicholls. The team is paced by Alexis Lambert who is averaging almost three kills per set on a .271 hitting percentage. Both Allison Lippert (0.39) and Caitlin Sharrock (0.34) are ranked in the top ten of the conference for aces per set.
Lamar also sits at 4-10 in conference play, recently snapping a four-game skid with a win at home over Southeastern Louisiana in five sets. The Cardinals sit just behind McNeese in aces per set as a team, averaging 1.63 aces per set. The Wildcats played a tight contest with the Cardinals in Beaumont, but Lamar out-hustled ACU earning the four-set victory. Abigale Nash leads the team with 3.29 kills per set and ranks fifth in the conference. Malaysia Murdock leads the team in hitting percentage, hitting .296 on the season, to rank seventh in the Southland
How to follow along
11/14 vs. McNeese
Live video |
Live stats
11/16 vs. Lamar
Live video |
Live stats
Also, follow along on @ACU_Volleyball Instagram and Twitter for in-game updates.
