Abilene Christian
8-8,3-2WAC
Tarleton State
5-13,0-5WAC
Wildcats gain first road win in five-set clash with Tarleton State
10/10/2024 8:56:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
STEPHENVILLE, Texas — The Wildcats won their third straight five-set match on Thursday night, and they were able to get their first road win of the season against the Tarleton State Texans, 3-2.
The Texans won the first set, 25-19, followed by ACU taking the second and third sets 25-19 as well. The Texans responded by taking the fourth set 25-20, but ACU fought their way back and dominated the fifth set, 15-8.
In the first set, Tarleton State went on a 5-0 run and held ACU to a .114 hitting percentage. Despite that, ACU gained momentum towards the end of the set that they carried in the second set.
The second set was back and forth, but then, the Wildcats went on a 9-0 run, fueled by three aces by Rachel Koss and three kills from Alexis Strong to take a 23-18 lead. The Texans got one more point, but the Wildcats closed out the set on a 2-0 swing. ACU also finished the set hitting .357 percent.
ACU saw more success in the third set, hitting .250 while holding Tarleton State to a .194 hitting percentage. ACU also had four blocks and three aces in the set, closing the set on a 5-1 run to win 25-19.
In the fourth set, the Texans went on an 8-1 run to take the lead, following it with a 6-1 run to take a 16-5 lead. The Wildcats tried to claw their way back, with the match sitting at 18-21, but the set hitting percentage of -.027 was their downfall.
Then, heading into their third straight five-set match, showed their resilience. The Wildcats went on an 8-0 run to take a commanding lead and never looked back. ACU hit .273 while holding Tarleton State to zero percent.
Bryley Steinhilber led the team with 13 kills and added another double-double with 13 digs, with Avery Thaler followed with a career-high 10 kills while also having five blocks. Hannah Gonzalez led the blocking efforts with seven blocks, tying her career high.
Rachel Koss finished the match with a career-high seven aces to help elevate the 'Cats while also adding 17 assists. Madeline Guffy led with 24 assists and Sara Carrizales finished with 20 digs.
Up next, the Wildcats return to Moody Coliseum for the annual She Can Be match where they will face off with the number one team in the Western Athletic Conference, UT Arlington. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The match will stream live on ESPN+, but you can also follow the team and the match against the Mavericks by following the team on social media on Instagram, X, Facebook and acusports.com.
#Unshakable #GoWildcats
