Wildcats host final two home matches this week

THURSDAY vs. SEATTLE U

SERIES HISTORY VS. SEATTLE U

• ALL-TIME | First meeting
• LAST MEETING | n/a
• STREAK | n/a
• IN ABILENE | n/a
• IN SEATTLE | n/a
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

SATURDAY vs. UTAH VALLEY

SERIES HISTORY VS. UTAH VALLEY

• ALL-TIME | Second meeting (UVU leads 1-0)
• LAST MEETING | Sept. 13, 2014 (UVU W, 3-1)
• STREAK | UVU, w1
• IN ABILENE | n/a
• IN OREM | n/a
• NEUTRAL | UVU 1-0
• POSTSEASON | n/a

ABILENE - The Wildcats played two competitive matches last week, coming up just short on the road in a five-set thriller against UT Arlington and then closing the week with a four-set win at home over Tarleton. Abilene Christian continues to get great production from their young outside hitters, Ashli Edmiston and Bryley Steinhilber, who both registered a double-double in the win over the Texans. The Wildcats are pushing these last three weeks to earn a spot in the WAC conference tournament and will look to use home court advantage this week to pick up two wins. 

A LOOK AT THE 'CATS

• LATE SEASON PUSH: ACU has won two of their last three matches and are looking to put together a late run that could propel them into the WAC conference tournament. The team sits just one win out of eighth place and just two games back of the fifth place position. The fifth through eighth spots are wide open and if the Wildcats can continue their solid play from the last two weeks, they should be in contention for a postseason berth. 
• OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: The Wildcats have hit over .200 as a team in four of their last five matches and have totaled 53 or more kills in all but one of those matches as well. The team had a season-high 72 kills on a .351 hitting percentage in their opening conference win against Sam Houston for their best outing of the year and have tallied five matches with 60-plus kills. 
• OUTSIDE FORCE: Bryley Steinhilber has tallied double-digit kills in 10 of her last 12 matches and set a new career-high with 18 kills on the road at California Baptist. The sophomore outside hitter has hit over .300 four times on the season and has nine double-doubles on the year. She set a new career-high with 21 digs in the Wildcats win over GCU. Her 14-kill performance in a win over Tarleton came on a career-high .400 hitting percentage. 
• TRIPLE THREAT: Madeline Guffy has notched a double-double in 10 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 leads the team with 29 aces on the year.
• BLOCK PARTY: The Wildcats have totaled eight or more total blocks in each of their last four matches as they become a more dominant force at the net. The team tallied nine blocks against CBU before putting up 11 blocks in a win over GCU two weekends ago, before tallying eight blocks against UTA and nine against Tarleton last weekend. Braden Bossier leads the team with 70 blocks on the year and is averaging 0.80 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 points (245) and digs (213) and is second on the team with 211 kills. She opened the season with a double-double, she now has eight on the season, and has 13 double-digit kill performances. Edmiston is also the first freshman to surpass 200 kills for the season since Katelyn Mueller in 2017.
• 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 SEATTLE U (4-12, 0-8 WAC)

• The Redhawks have struggled in conference play and are still looking to earn their first WAC victory. The team has just three set wins through eight conference matches and earned their last win on September 10 over Gardner-Webb. 
• Arianna Bilby leads SU with 194 kills on the year and is the only Redhawk to have over 200 points on the season. She is hitting .164 from the outside this season and is also top-three on the team for total digs. 
• Lauren McCabe (1.05) and Marley Hardgrave (0.96) lead the team in blocks per set and also rank fourth and 10th in the WAC, respectively. Despite their record, Seattle U has been the fourth-best blocking team in the conference this season. 

SCOUTING UTAH VALLEY (13-7, 7-1 WAC)

• After starting the season 0-3, the Wolverines have put together an impressive campaign this fall and currently sit in second place in the WAC standings. UVU will face Tarleton on Thursday night in Stephenville before continuing on to Abilene for Saturday's match. 
• The Wolverines are hitting .228 as a team on the year and are led by Tori Dorius and Kazna Tanuvasa who have 212 and 210 kills on the season, respectively. Makayla Broadbent leads the team in hitting percentage, swinging at a .305 clip on the year. 
• UVU is the best blocking team in the WAC, averaging over 2.5 blocks per set, and have totaled double-digit team blocks in their last six matches. Broadbent, and her teammate Jules Fink, are the top two blockers in the conference with Fink leading the way at 1.10 blocks per set and Broadbent averaging 1.08 blocks per set. 

Follow ACU on social media:

Twitter: @ACU_Volleyball | @ACUsports

Instagram: @acu_volleyball | @acusports

Facebook: /acusports

#GoWildcats