Volleyball to close out regular season on the road

THURSDAY at UTRGV

SERIES HISTORY VS. UTRGV

• ALL-TIME | Fifth meeting (UTRGV leads series 4-0)
• LAST MEETING | Nov. 13, 2021 (UTRGV W 3-0)
• STREAK | UTRGV, w4
• IN ABILENE | UTRGV, 1-0
• IN EDINBURG | UTRGV, 1-0
• NEUTRAL | UTRGV, 2-0
• POSTSEASON | n/a

SATURDAY at NM STATE

SERIES HISTORY VS. NM STATE

• ALL-TIME | Third meeting (NMSU leads 2-0)
• LAST MEETING | Sept. 8, 2017 (NMSU W, 3-0)
• STREAK | NMSU, w2
• IN ABILENE | n/a
• IN LAS CRUCES | NMSU 1-0
• NEUTRAL | NMSU 1-0
• POSTSEASON | n/a

ABILENE - It all comes down to the last weekend of regular season competition as the Wildcats make a push to earn one of the remaining three spots in the WAC tournament. ACU will need to win both of their matches this weekend in order to have a chance to make it to postseason and will have a tough task ahead of them on the road. They will first match up against the first-place Vaqueros of UTRGV who have just one conference loss on the season to SFA, who the Wildcats went to five sets with. They then make the long trip to Las Cruces where they will face NM State who is also battling for one of the final spots in the tournament. The Wildcats have the talent to get the job done, but will likely need help from other programs if they want to get in. 

A LOOK AT THE 'CATS

• LATE SEASON PUSH: The Wildcats are in a tough position of needing to win both of their games this weekend to have the opportunity to play in the postseason. The WAC has proven to be a league where any team can earn a win on any given night, but the Wildcats will have to step up in a big way to earn a win on the road against top-ranked UTRGV. 
• 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 12 of her last 15 matches and set a new career-high with 18 kills on the road at California Baptist. The sophomore outside hitter has hit over .300 five times on the season and has 10 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 12 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 33 aces on the year (tied for the second most in a season at ACU).
• BLOCK PARTY: The Wildcats have totaled eight or more total blocks in five of their last six 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 81 blocks on the year and is averaging 0.84 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 nine 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 is second on the team for kills (235) and points (270.5) and leads the team with 240 digs on the year. 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, she is currently third all-time for kills by a freshman at the DI level. 
• 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 UTRGV (22-5, 11-1 WAC)

• The Vaqueros are led by outside hitter Sarah Cruz who leads the conference with 4.51 kills per set, more than a kill better than the next hitter. Cruz is also ranked 12th in the NCAA for kills per set. 
• As a team, UTRGV is hitting an impressive .237 and has four hitters hitting .248 or better on the year. 
• Sophomore Luanna Emiliano runs an efficient offense for the Vaqueros and leads the conference with 10.83 assists per set. 
• Regina Tijerina leads the team in digs and is ranked in the top-10 of the WAC averaging 3.80 digs per set.

SCOUTING NM STATE (13-11, 5-7 WAC)

• The Aggies split their matches last weekend falling to Utah Valley in four sets before pulling out a five-set win at Seattle U. 
• Katie Birtcil has been the leading offensive force for NMSU, tallying 275 kills on a .161 hitting percentage on the year. Lia Mosher leads the team with a .356 hitting percentage which is the second-best mark in the WAC.
• Setter Rylee Fay leads the team with 6.39 assists per set, but is also leading the conference with 45 aces on the year, averaging 0.51 aces per set. She is also ranked in the top-20 for aces per set in the NCAA. 

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