Wildcats on the road in Tulsa for ORU Invite

FRIDAY vs. ORAL ROBERTS

SERIES HISTORY VS. ORAL ROBERTS

• ALL-TIME | 10th meeting (ORU leads 5-4)
• LAST MEETING | Sept. 8, 2018 (ACU W, 3-2)
• STREAK | ACU w1
• IN ABILENE | n/a
• IN TULSA | ORU leads 1-0
• NEUTRAL | Tied 1-1
• POSTSEASON | n/a

FRIDAY vs. UTEP

SERIES HISTORY VS. UTEP

• ALL-TIME | Third meeting (tied, 1-1)
• LAST MEETING | Sept. 10, 2017 (ACU W, 3-2)
• STREAK | ACU, W1
• IN ABILENE | n/a
• IN EL PASO | ACU leads 1-0
• NEUTRAL | UTEP leads 1-0
• POSTSEASON | n/a

SATURDAY vs. TULSA

SERIES HISTORY VS. TULSA

• ALL-TIME | Second meeting (Tulsa leads 1-0)
• LAST MEETING | Sept, 07. 2018
• STREAK | Tulsa, w1
• IN ABILENE | n/a
• IN TULSA | Tulsa leads 1-0
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

ABILENE - The Wildcats continue their extended road trip to begin the season with a trip to Tulsa, Okla. this weekend. The team will participate in the Oral Roberts Invite where they will face UTEP, Tulsa, and the host Golden Eagles. ACU put together a solid trip at Mizzou last weekend, taking a set from the Tigers before earning their first two wins of the year over Northwestern State and Missouri State. 

A LOOK AT THE 'CATS

• BLOCK PARTY: Braden Bossier has started the season with 15 blocks through five matches including an eight-block outing against Missouri State last weekend. She is quickly moving into the ACU record books and is currently ranked 10th all-time for total blocks with 141 and ninth all-time for block assists with 133. 
• FRESHMAN PHENOM: Ashli Edmiston continues to make her mark for the Wildcats through two weekends of action. The freshman leads the team in both kills per set (2.89) and points per set (3.08) and is third in digs per set (2.39). She opened the season with a double-double and has three double-digit kill performances. 
• DIGGING DEEP: The team posted their most digs in a four-set match with 89 against the Lobos last Saturday. Libero Logan Browning also set a new career-high with 24 in the match. Four different Wildcats posted double-doubles on the weekend that included digs.
• RETURNERS: The team lost two key starters from a season ago, but bring back a solid core of players who have a great wealth of experience on the court. Madison Rohre returns for her fifth season of action, while Brea Box and Logan Browning look to put together their best foot forward in their senior season. Jada Birkel, Londyn Gray, and Rachel Crismore round out the senior class and bring a great deal of leadership and talent to the court. Other key returners include Braden Bossier, Bryley Steinhilber and Andie Sheppard who could all be impact players this season.
• NEWCOMERS: The Wildcats brought in five new players this fall with each player having a chance to make an impact in their first season. Sophomore setter Madeline Guffy impressed in the team's scrimmage and both Emily Mekelburg and Ashli Edmiston could be key players on the outside.
• 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 ORAL ROBERTS (2-4)

• The Golden Eagles started the season 2-1 before dropping three matches at the Redbird Classic hosted by Illinois State last weekend.
• The team is led by Trinity Freeman on the outside where she is averaging 3.24 kills per set on a .222 hitting percentage. 
• Sakira LaCour leads the team with 37 blocks on the season, averaging 1.48 per set. As a team, ORU is averaging 2.28 blocks per set. 

SCOUTING UTEP (2-4)

• Similar to ORU, the Miners got out to a 2-1 start to the 2022 season before going 0-3 last weekend. The team dropped a match to New Mexico in five sets to open their home tournament. All but one of their matches has gone to five sets this season.
• Four players are hitting .200 or better for UTEP with Vittoria Price leading the team hitting .347 on the season. Serena Patterson leads the team in kills and points per set. 
• The team is averaging just 12.43 digs per set with Hula Crisostomo leading the team with 3.32 per set. 

SCOUTING TULSA (2-4)

• Tulsa went 1-2 in each of their first two weekends, earning wins over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and South Alabama. 
• Kayley Cassaday has already notched 98 kills through six matches, averaging 4.26 kills per set on a .215 hitting percentage. 
• The Golden Hurricane have been a top-notch defensive team through two weeks, averaging over 19 digs per set. The team is currently ranked second in the country for digs per set.