Volleyball hosts Nicholls, SFA on the weekend

ABILENE—The Wildcats return to action after a snowy bye week with another home weekend. The team will have a tough test ahead as they face an 0-4 Nicholls team on Thursday night before welcoming the reigning conference champions, SFA. The Ladyjacks are 4-0 on the season thus far and have not lost a regular season conference game since October of 2017. ACU is 3-1 to start conference play and has the chance to pick up some quality wins on their home court.

Much like last wk in Abi, this video is ICE COLD ??????

We are def warming things up in the Teague Events Center as we are back in @SouthlandSports action this Thur. vs Nicholls St at 6p and Saturday vs SFA at 1:00p!

Be there, Be Loud & Go Wildcats! @NCAAVolleyball pic.twitter.com/54Wku1Efr2
— ACU Volleyball (@ACU_Volleyball) February 22, 2021

WILDCATS WEEKEND OUTLOOK

With the spring season spread out over two months, the Wildcats had their first of two bye weeks last week. This turned out to be a blessing for ACU as any game that were scheduled last week were likely to have been canceled due to the poor weather and travel conditions in the state. The team has a chance to earn two solid wins in conference play.

Kate Mueller is coming off an Offensive Player of the Week for the Wildcats in their last week of action after hitting .337 on the week behind 39 total kills and a career-high outing of 23 kills in the match against McNeese. ACU has looked more polished with every match they have played this season and each match has shown the versatility and talent of their roster. Kate Blasingame has proven to be another reliable outside for the Wildcats and Lindsey Toney has thrived in her move to the right side. The Wildcats will need their offense to find success across the net and use their depth to compete on the weekend, especially against a tough SFA front.

The Wildcats will have their Dig Pink match on Saturday against SFA and will be partnering with State Farm Agent, Melanie Hardy to support local women in the Big Country in their fight against breast cancer. Hardy will have a table set up at the game where fans can fill out a free insurance quote and for every quote filled out, Hardy and State Farm Insurance will donate $20 towards providing mammograms for local women. The goal is to raise enough money to cover 10 mammograms for women in the community. We hope you will come out and help support this great cause on Saturday.

ACU PLAYERS TO WATCH

Madison Rohre

Mackenzie Harris

While Rohre is playing just three rotations in the lineup this season, she has still found a way to make an impact on the court. Her leadership on the floor has been key and she has a consistent and infectious energy on every play. She is averaging 4.65 assists per set in a modified 6-2 offense and her chemistry with her hitters has been huge.

Harris steps into year two at the libero position and has picked up where she left off last season. The sophomore has been a consistent and dominant force in the back row and is coming off an 18-dig performance in a three set victory over Lamar. She is leading the team in services aces and will need to continue her high-level play to help the Wildcats earn two important home wins.

SCOUTING THE COLONELS (0-5, 0-4)

The Colonels lone non-conference match came on the road at Southern Mississippi where they fell in straight sets.
Nicholls returns their top offensive player from a season ago in Emily Gathreaux, she currently leads the team in kills with 48 total and 2.67 per set. She has three double-digit kills efforts on the season so far.
Despite dropping all four of their conference contests, they have played competitively over the first two weeks. They took McNeese and HBU to five sets and played closely with SLU and UNO in straight set losses.
The team is fourth in the Southland for team hitting percentage, totaling a .207 hitting percentage on the season so far.

SCOUTING THE LADYJACKS (16-4, 4-0)

SFA was one of four Southland programs who put together a fall schedule, but they played the most games in the fall by far, putting together a 10-game schedule and going 7-3 in those matches.
The Ladyjacks are leading the conference hitting .283 in conference matches.
The team had a five-set battle with the Islanders to open the conference season but have earned sweeps in each of their last three outings.
Leah Powell is leading the way offensively for SFA, she has 179 kills on the season, averaging 2.49 kills per set on a .283 hitting percentage.
SFA returned their libero Madi Miller who is averaging 4.62 digs per set.