ABILENE — ACU hits the road for the third and final time before conference play begins this upcoming weekend as they head to the Borderland Invitational in Las Cruces, New Mexico at the Pan American Center.
The Wildcats have three games slated for their weekend in Las Cruces, two on Friday, and one on Saturday. ACU will open up the tournament at 11 a.m. CT on Friday with a matchup with the Arizona Wildcats, one of the newest members of the Big 12 Conference. The program will also have the nightcap of opening day against tournament host, New Mexico State, with that game being streamed on ESPN+. The 'Cats will conclude their tournament appearance on Saturday at noon as they take on Texas Southern.
"We're excited to hit the road one more time before we come back home to compete in Moody," head coach Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup said. "As a whole, we've had to deal with injuries and I believe our group will be stronger because of it through the rest of our season. These last two tournaments will help us prepare for our regular season matches and allow us to iron out final tweaks heading into conference play."
ACU Storylines:
LAST WEEK IN THE ALAMO CITY: The Wildcats finished the challenging UTSA Invitational last weekend 1-2. They lost their first game of the tournament last Friday 3-1 to the eventual tournament champion, Incarnate Word. In the second game, they played Friday, they were swept by tournament host UTSA. The Wildcats did not leave the tournament winless, with the Wildcats ultimately sweeping Holy Cross in dominant fashion to conclude the tournament.
MILESTONES REACHED: Senior setter Madeline Guffy reached a historic milestone during the ACU's first match against UIW. In that match, Guffy eclipsed the 1,500 career assist mark, becoming the third Wildcat in ACU's Division I history to reach that mark, and currently sits third all with a total of now 1,550 assists for her career.
STRONG FROM THE OUTSIDE: Sophomore outside Alexis Strong had an impressive weekend from the outside, earning her UTSA Invitational All-Tournament team honors. Over the weekend, Strong finished with 31 kills, with her career-high 17 kills coming in the first match against UIW. She finished the weekend hitting .290 while adding three blocks.
FRESHMAN IMPACT: Throughout the past weekend, all active freshmen made appearances in the UTSA Invitational, each making an impact while on the floor. Freshman standouts include Sydney Payne having 20 assists, three kills and one ace in six sets played on the weekend, as well as Avery Thaler who had nine kills and three blocks in seven sets played over the weekend.
DIGGING DEEP: Three Wildcat upperclassmen are leading the passing efforts for the team this season. Senior setter Madeline Guffy currently leads all players with 50 digs, junior libero Sara Carrizales follows closely behind with 47 digs and senior outside Bryley Steinhilber currently has 44 digs.
BLOCK PARTY: So far, the middle blockers for the Wildcats are leading the way for ACU's blocker efforts. Sophomore Hannah Gonzalez leads the team with 17 blocks while redshirt junior Nieko Thomas is second with eight blocks. Strong, sophomore Izabelle Larson and Thaler are tied for third with six blocks each.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH: Two Wildcats are closing in on reaching career milestones. Junior Ashli Edmiston, who is slowly working herself back into the lineup after suffering a torn ACL at the end of the 2023 season, is one dig away from reaching 400 career digs, while Larson is seven digs away from reaching 100 career digs at ACU.
History with Arizona
- Arizona leads the series 1-0
- Current streak: Arizona; 1 win
- Last ACU win: n/a
- Last Arizona win: Aug. 29 2015 in Dallas, 3-0
Scouting the Wildcats
- The Wildcats from Tucson, Arizona, have started the 2024 season hot, currently sitting 6-0 with wins over Boise State, VCU, Tennessee State, Alabama State, Prairie View A&M and Alabama.
- The Wildcats are currently tied for first in the Big 12 due to their undefeated status but were projected to finish 12th out of 15 teams in the Big 12 Preseason Poll.
- Arizona has a stacked outside trio that leads the team in kills. Jordan Wilson leads the team with 68 kills, Jaelyn Hodge, who also earned Big 12 Preseason Team honors, is in second with 65, and third is Carlie Cisneros, who earned Big 12 Rookie of the Week in week one of play, has 56 kills, leads the three with a .264 hitting percentage and leads the entire team with 10 aces and 77 digs.
- Middle blocker Kiari Robey leads the team with 20 blocks, while also having 56 kills and hitting .477 percent.
History with New Mexico State
- New Mexico State leads the series 3-0
- Current streak: NMSU; 3 wins
- Last ACU win: n/a
- Last New Mexico State win: Nov. 12 2022 in Las Cruces, 3-0
Scouting the Aggies
- The Aggies were 2-3 to open the 2024 season, with a season opener win against Coastal Carolina and a win in their most recent game against California State-Northridge. The Aggies saw a four-set loss to then #14 Georgia Tech, and five-set losses to San Francisco and Sacramento State.
- The Aggies are currently seeded seventh in the Conference USA conference standings. They are projected to finish second in the conference's preseason poll.
- Four Aggies were selected on the Conference USA preseason team that has made an impact already this season. Those players include outsides Yasso Amin and Mari Sharp, libero Darian Markham and opposite Ryleigh Whitekettle.
- Another standout for the Aggies is Starr Williams, who has a team-best 76 kills and a .347 hitting percentage.
History with Texas Southern
- ACU leads the series 1-0
- Current streak: ACU; 1 win
- Last ACU win: Sept. 4 2021 in Abilene, 3-0
- Last Texas Southern win: n/a
Scouting the Tigers
- The Tigers are 0-6 so far to start the season. Their schedule has been tough so far, playing teams such as Texas State, Houston Christian, North Texas, Jacksonville State, North Florida and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
- Due to the start, Texas Southern is at the bottom of the Southwestern Athletic Conference but is predicted to finish eighth in the SWAC Preseason Poll.
- Middle Blocker Kourtni Collier, who also earned SWAC Preseason Second-Team Honors, leads the team with 21 blocks this season. She leads all middles with 33 kills and has the second-best hitting percentage at .225.
#Unshakeable #GoWildcats
