Wildcats prep for UTA, Tarleton on the weekend

THURSDAY at UT ARLINGTON

SERIES HISTORY VS. UT ARLINGTON

• ALL-TIME | Ninth meeting (UTA leads 5-3)
• LAST MEETING | Sept. 29, 2022 (UTA W, 3-1)
• STREAK | UTA, w1
• IN ABILENE | Series tied 3-3
• IN ARLINGTON | UTA leads 2-0
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

SATURDAY vs. TARLETON

SERIES HISTORY VS. TARLETON

• ALL-TIME | 49th meeting (ACU leads 37-11)
• LAST MEETING | Oct. 30, 2021 (Tarleton W, 3-0)
• STREAK | Tarleton, w4
• IN ABILENE | ACU leads 3-2
• IN STEPHENVILLE | Tarleton leads 3-2
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

ABILENE - Coming off an impressive five-set win over GCU last Saturday, the Wildcats will look to carry that momentum into two matches this weekend. Abilene Christian will begin the week on the road to face UT Arlington looking to even the season series at 1-1 before coming back to Abilene to host Tarleton on Saturday afternoon. With the team currently sitting on the outside looking in for the WAC tournament, these are important games that could help vault them up in the standings. 

A LOOK AT THE 'CATS

• OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: The Wildcats matched a season-high with 72 kills against Sam Houston in their WAC opener, doing it on a .351 hitting percentage as a team. Three Wildcats hit .550 or better in the match and the offensive output was balanced with five different hitters registering double-digit kills. Braden Bossier, Brea Box, and Jada Birkel each set or matched season-highs in both kills and hitting percentage.
• OUTSIDE FORCE: Bryley Steinhilber has tallied double-digit kills in eight of her last ten matches and set a new career-high with 18 kills on the road at California Baptist. The sophomore outside hitter has hit over .300 three times on the season and has seven double-doubles on the year. She set a new career-high with 21 digs in the Wildcats win over GCU. 
• TRIPLE THREAT: Madeline Guffy has notched a double-double in nine matches on the year. She continues to have success running the offense, alongside Madison Rohre, and has matched that with her defensive presence as well. Her dig numbers are in the top four on the team and on top of her assists and digs she is second on the team with 24 aces on the year.
• BLOCK PARTY: The Wildcats are coming off of one of their best blocking weekends of the season where they totaled 20 blocks through two matches. The team tallied nine blocks against CBU before putting up 11 blocks in a win over GCU. Braden Bossier led the team with seven block assists against the Lopes, just shy of her career-high (8). Bossier leads the team averaging 0.79 blocks per set. 
• HOT STARTS: The team has had a number of 1-0 or 2-1 set leads that have ended in losses on the year. The team has lost eight matches on the year where they took the first set or held at least a 2-1 lead. The Wildcats have had great starts in a number of matches but have struggled to play at the same intensity to close out matches.
• FRESHMAN PHENOM: Ashli Edmiston continues to make her mark for the Wildcats this season. The freshman leads the team in both kills (193) and points (226.5). She opened the season with a double-double, she now has seven on the season, and has 12 double-digit kill performances. 
• DIGGING DEEP: The team posted their most digs in a four-set match with 89 against the Lobos on opening weekend and matched that total in a defensive slugfest against Tulsa last weekend. Logan Browning set a new career-high with 27 digs against Tulsa and five different players registered double-digit digs in the match.
• THE BLAIR ERA: Alisa Blair returns to the helm of a program for the first time since spending three seasons as head coach with the Hill College volleyball program where she went 83-38 during her tenure. Blair was instrumental in the success of programs at Central Oklahoma and, most recently, SFA as an assistant and will now strive to bring that same success to Abilene.

SCOUTING UT ARLINGTON (12-7, 4-3 WAC)

• After opening WAC play 3-0, the Mavericks dropped their next three matches and picked up a win over Seattle last weekend to move to 4-3 in conference action.
• Brianna Ford is leading the team in both kills per set (3.28) and points per set (4.01) but the Wildcats did keep the outside hitter in check when the teams met back in September. Ford had just seven kills on a .120 hitting percentage in the match.
• The Mavericks lead the WAC in blocking, averaging 2.49 blocks per set, and are led by Kortney Puckett (1.02) and Meredith Fisher (0.97) in the middle. 

SCOUTING TARLETON (11-12, 3-5 WAC)

• The Texans started WAC play 0-4 but have won three of their last four conference matches. The team is coming off a home win over CBU and will not play a match on Thursday before facing the Wildcats. 
• Grayson Schirpik is leading the team with 209 kills despite only playing in 71 of the team's 85 sets on the year. She is averaging 2.94 kills per set. 
• Freshman middle blocker Allie Hair leads the WAC in hitting percentage at .382 and has tallied 174 kills on the year. Hair also leads the Texans with 80 blocks on the season averaging 0.94 blocks per set. 

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