LAS CRUCES, N.M. — ACU fell in straight sets to Borderland Invitational host, the New Mexico State Aggies, giving the Wildcats their second loss of the tournament.
Despite losing in straight sets, ACU kept it close with the final scores being 17-25, 16-25 and 24-26.
Even with the loss, the Wildcats saw several areas of improvement as compared to their first match of the day. The Wildcats ultimately held the advantage in blocks over the Aggies, having six blocks to NMSU's two. ACU also up its hitting percentage to .142, and had 30 kills, 53 digs and 24 assists.
ACU also had less service and hitting errors than New Mexico State, but ultimately the Aggies had more kills (48) and a better hitting percentage (.262), which allowed the host team to edge out the Wildcats.
Senior Bryley Steinhilber led the Wildcats with 11 kills while adding 12 digs, allowing her to earn a double-double, as well as earning the team's only ace on the match and two blocks.
Sophomore Izabelle Larson followed Steinhilber with seven kills with Alexis Strong adding another four. Freshman Avery Thaler led the team and also had a career-high four blocks in the match, with the other starting middle, Hannah Gonzalez also having two.
Senior Madeline Guffy led the offense with 15 assists, with libero Sara Carrizales adding five assists and freshman setter Sydeny Payne adding four. Carrizales led the team's passing efforts with 15 digs and Guffy added another seven digs.
Up next, the Wildcats play Texas Southern in the Pan American Center on Saturday at 12 p.m. CT. You can keep track of the final match at the Borderland Invitational on social media on Instagram, X, Facebook and acusports.com.
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