Volleyball hosts Sam Houston to open WAC play

ABILENE - The Wildcats are coming off of their final non-conference weekend and ready to jump into WAC action. The team hosts Sam Houston on Thursday night for their She Can Be gameday. The Wildcats come in at 3-9 on the year and will look to start conference play on a high note. 

SERIES HISTORY VS. SAM HOUSTON

• ALL-TIME | 14th meeting (SHSU leads, 9-4)
• LAST MEETING | Sam Houston 3, ACU 0 (Nov. 18, 2021 - Las Cruces, N.M.)
• STREAK | Sam Houston, W1
• IN ABILENE | SHSU leads 4-3
• IN HUNTSVILLE | SHSU leads 4-1
• NEUTRAL | SHSU leads 1-0
• POSTSEASON | SHSU leads 1-0

A LOOK AT THE 'CATS

• OUTSIDE FORCE: Bryley Steinhilber has been on a tear over the last five matches tallying double-digit kills in four of those contests. She averaged 3.14 kills per set at TCU and set a new career-high with 17 kills against the Horned Frogs. She has three double-doubles in the last five matches and earned an All-Tournament selection for her performance in Fort Worth. 
• 2K NUMBERS: Madison Rohre tallied her 2,000th career assist this past Saturday in the match against Louisiana. Rohre totaled 79 assists in the tournament and notched her first double-double of the season. 
• TRIPLE THREAT: Madeline Guffy notched a double-double in each of the last three matches. 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 three on the team and on top of her assists and digs she is leading the team in aces with 20 on the year.
• BLOCK PARTY: The Wildcats are coming off of one of their best blocking weekends of the season where they totaled 27 blocks through three matches. The team had a season-high 14 blocks against TCU with Brea Box leading the way with eight total in the match. Braden Bossier continues to lead the team on the year with 37 total blocks and averaging 0.79 blocks per set. Bossier has moved into eighth place in ACU's DI history for total blocks with 163 in her career, Box is sitting just outside of the top-10 with 145 career blocks. 
• FRESHMAN PHENOM: Ashli Edmiston continues to make her mark for the Wildcats through three weekends of action. The freshman leads the team in both kills per set (2.45) and points per set (2.88). She opened the season with a double-double, she now has three on the season, and has five 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 SAM HOUSTON (3-11)

• After starting the season 3-3, the Bearkats have dropped their last eight matches in a tough schedule that has featured seven Power Five opponents. 
• Preseason Libero of the Year, Hannah Baker, is coming off of a record-breaking performance against Tulsa where she tallied 50 digs in the five-set contest against the Golden Hurricane. Baker is currently ranked third in the WAC for digs per set at 5.0. 
• Catherine Krieger is leading the Bearkats with 135 kills on the year, she is averaging 2.76 kills per set on a .153 hitting percentage. The team's next leading attacker is freshman Madison Dyer who is averaging 2.53 kills per set on a .249 hitting percentage out of the middle. 

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