ABILENE — The Wildcats season officially begins on Friday as they head to the Ferrell Center in Waco for the Baylor Classic.
The Wildcats begin the tournament against host Baylor on Friday at 11 a.m., with the game also streaming live on ESPN+. They will play their second game of the tournament at 6 p.m., with a first-ever matchup against Campbell. ACU will conclude the tournament on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. game against the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes.
"It will be a weekend full of tough competition that will help prepare us for our WAC regular season," head coach Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup said. "You can expect to see some new faces on the floor for the wildcat as well as big contributors from last season. We talk a lot in our program about the importance of playing good volleyball and that's the goal heading into the weekend. If we give our 100 percent, we will leave Waco better than when we drove into town."
ACU Storylines
SOPHOMORE YEAR: The Wildcats are officially entering the second year of the Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup coaching era. Last year, the team finished 11-18, earned a Power 4 team (Texas Tech) and made the WAC tournament.
TOUGH STARTS: ACU is 3-8 in season openers since beginning its Division I era. ACU beat Houston Christian in 2023, UT-Arlington in 2021 and Georgetown in 2018 to begin those seasons.
POWER HUNGRY: The Wildcats are 2-24 since 2013 against teams from what has been considered the Power 4. The two wins were against Texas Tech in 2013 and 2023.
KEY RETURNERS: The Wildcats return nine players from their roster last season. Senior Bryley Steinhilber and junior Ashli Edmiston both return to play outside for the Wildcats, senior setter Madeline Guffy also returns alongside junior libero Sara Carrizales. Five sophomores, Abby Christian, Hannah Gonzalez, Rachel Koss, Izabelle Larson and Alexis Strong, round out the returners after serving as key role players in the starting lineup and off the bench in their first years.
IN THE MIDDLE: After the departure of senior middle blockers Breanna Box and Braden Bossier, ACU will look to fill their big shoes. Returning is sophomore Hannah Gonzalez, while the Wildcats added transfers Nieko Thomas from CSUN and Sasha Stotler from Rutgers, as well as freshman Avery Thaler.
FRESH FISH: The Wildcats also add six freshman to their ranks. They include Thaler, Courtney Church from Driftwood, Paige Jones from Odessa, Annaleise Sevier from Aubrey, Delanna Harper from McKinney and Sydney Payne from Argyle.
SETTING UP FOR SUCCESS: Senior setter Madeline Guffy returns to run the Wildcat offense for her third season with the Purple and White. Last season, Guffy finished with 915 assists and averaged 9.24 assists per set.
History with Baylor
- Baylor leads the series 3-1
- Current streak: Baylor 3 wins
- Last ACU win: 1984, 3-0
- Last Baylor win: 2014 in Waco, 3-0
Scouting the Bears
- Baylor was 17-13 last season and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament last season.
- The Bears were selected to finish fifth in the Big 12 in the coaches preseason poll
- Lauren Briseño, last season's starting libero, and Elise McGhee were given All-Big 12 preseason honors
- The Bears matchup against the Wildcats will also be their season opener
History with Campbell
- This will be the first-ever matchup between ACU and Campbell
Scouting the Fighting Camels
- Campbell was 17-13 last season and lost in the second round of the CAA tournament against Delaware
- The Fighting Camels were selected to finish fourth in the CAA preseason poll
- Gwen Wolkow, who's on the All-CAA preseason team, returns after leading her team in kills and digs, Ally Clent also returns in the middle after leading the team with 110.0 blocks last year
- Campbell opens the season Friday against Tulsa
History with Tulsa
- Tulsa leads the series 2-0
- Current streak: Tulsa 2 wins
- Last ACU win: n/a
- Last Tulsa win: 2022 in Tulsa, 3-1
Scouting the Golden Hurricanes
- Tulsa was 18-15 last season and lost in the second round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship
- The Golden Hurricanes are ranked tenth in the American Athletic Conference preseason standings
- Junior Beth Bayless (2.66 k/s) returns to lead the Tulsa offense alongside defense leader, senior Marta Pecalli, who led the team with 527 digs (4.28 DIG/s) last season
- Tulsa opens the season Friday against Campbell
