Wildcats prepare for two home WAC contests

THURSDAY vs. UT ARLINGTON

SERIES HISTORY VS. UT ARLINGTON

• ALL-TIME | 8th meeting (UTA leads 4-3)
• LAST MEETING | Aug. 27, 2021 (ACU W, 3-1)
• STREAK | ACU w2
• IN ABILENE | ACU leads 3-2
• IN ARLINGTON | UTA leads 2-0
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

SATURDAY vs. SFA

SERIES HISTORY VS. SFA

• ALL-TIME | Third meeting (TCU leads, 2-0)
• LAST MEETING | Aug. 28, 2015 (TCU W, 3-0)
• STREAK | TCU, W2
• IN ABILENE | n/a
• IN NACOGDOCHES | TCU leads 2-0
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

ABILENE - The Wildcats got out to a hot start in conference play last week when they earned a win over Sam Houston in a five-set thriller at home. The team will get their next two WAC matches at home as well as they welcome UT Arlington and SFA to Moody Coliseum this week. The Wildcats have had some exciting battles with the Mavericks of UTA over the last two seasons and will look to come away with their third-straight win against them. Thursday night's match will be the team's Go 4 the Goal game where they will wear gold shoelaces and raise money for pediatric cancer awareness. Longtime foe SFA will be back in Moody Coliseum for the first time since 2019 on Saturday as they Wildcats host their Dig Pink match and help to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. Both matches this week will be streamed on ESPN+. 

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 been on a tear over the last six matches tallying double-digit kills in five 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. She tallied yet another double-double in the win over Sam Houston with 12 kills and 14 digs. 
• TRIPLE THREAT: Madeline Guffy notched a double-double in seven 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 leading the team in aces with 21 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 (2.46) and points per set (2.88). She opened the season with a double-double, she now has four on the season, and has eight 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 (9-4, 1-0 WAC)

• After starting the season 0-3, the Mavericks have won nine of their last 10 matches including opening WAC play with a five-set win over GCU in Phoenix. The team is currently on a seven-match win streak. 
• Outside hitter Brianna Ford is leading the team in kills with 169 on the year and averaging over three kills per set. She is also hitting an efficient .246 on the year. 
• UTA is leading the WAC in blocks averaging 2.5 per set on the season. The team has had seven matches where they totaled double-digit blocks and have two matches where they totaled 17 blocks. 

SCOUTING SFA (13-2, 1-1 WAC)

• The Ladyjacks won their first nine matches of the season before dropping a neutral site match against Houston Christian. SFA bounced back and won four more matches before dropping a rivalry game to Sam Houston last weekend. 
• Haley Hoang is leading the WAC and ranked third in the NCAA for digs averaging 5.73 per set. Hoang has nine matches with 20-plus digs and set a season-high with 35 digs against SHSU on Sept. 24. 
• Ielan Bradley leads the team with 171 kills and is averaging 3.11 kills per set. The junior middle blocker has had 10 matches with double-digit kills and is hitting a team-high .350 on the year. 

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