The Wildcats finished off the 2023 season on Thursday in a 3-1 loss to Stephen F. Austin in the first round of the WAC tournament.
"I think that we have a lot to be proud of," head coach
Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup said. "I'm really proud of the fact that we made it to the tournament the first place. We knew that we had a shot at SFA, and I think that we showed that we can take them for half of the match. Overall we just have a lot to be proud of and we gave them a really good fight."
The LadyJacks ultimately defeated the Wildcats 22-25, 25-21, 19-25, 15-25.
After dropping the first set, the Wildcats gained their lone set win second set. In that set, the Wildcats hit .286 percent while holding SFA to .244 percent. The set win was spearheaded by
Breanna Box, who tallied eight kills while hitting .500 in the second set alone.Â
"We were serving really well, so they were out of this and a lot of times," Moronu Alstrup said. "We were able to slow down their out of system swings, then transition and swing through our middles primarily."
Ultimately the top-seeded LadyJacks took down the Wildcats, who the Wildcats held to a .258 hitting percentage, but remained dominate at the net with 14 blocks. Â
Box ultimately led the way for the Wildcats offensively with 16 kills while hitting .333 percent. Two other Wildcats saw double digit kills, with
Alexis Strong finishing the night with 13 kills and
Emily Mekelburg finishing with 10 of her own.
Madeline Guffy also earned 48 assists throughout the night.Â
Defensively, three Wildcats saw double digit digs. Leading ACU was
Andie Sheppard with 19 while adding six kills, the
Sara Carrizales with 17 and
Abby Christian with 16.
This game served as the conclusion of the collegiate careers of four seniors, Box, Sheppard,
Braden Bossier, who finished with seven kills and three block, and
Hannah Knier.Â
"I'm just so thankful that that was my senior class coming in as a first time head coach," Moronu Alstrup said. "You just never know what you're going to get, and I got really great seniors."
