ABILENE — The Wildcats finished the Wildcat Classic in exciting fashion, defeating the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in five sets in front of a rowdy Moody Coliseum crowd, 3-2.
ACU took the first set 25-22, then ORU won the next two sets 25-23 then 25-15. The Wildcats then took the fourth set with a dominant 25-13, and in an exciting and action-packed fifth set, ACU took the fifth set 16-14.
"Tonight was a match full of ups and downs," head coach Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup said. "We had another awesome moody crowd, and I do not think we would've won without the support of the crowd. So we are so grateful to everyone that came out and was super engaged in the entire match."
In the first set, the Golden Eagles got out to an early 8-3 lead, but ACU went on a 6-1 run to take an 18-16 lead that ultimately allowed the Wildcats to squeak out the first set, 25-22.
The second set started with a 4-0 run by ORU, then ACU quickly struck back and went on a 5-0 run to even it out. Ultimately, the Golden Eagles with on 6-1 run to end the set, 25-23 in their favor. Oral Roberts took control of the third set, hitting .429 percent allowing them to take a 25-15 set win taking a 2-1 into the fourth set.
The script was flipped in the fourth set. The Wildcats started the set on a 7-0 run and closed the set on a 7-2 run to earn a 12-point set victory. The Wildcats also finished hitting a match-best .438 percent, hoping to carry that momentum into the final set.
After ORU earned the opening point of the fifth set, ACU went on a 5-1 run to earn an early lead. ORU then struck back with a 6-1 run of their own and was tight up until ORU took a 14-12 lead. With match point on the line, ACU went on a 4-0 run to take a pulse-pounding 16-14 set win.
Looking at the match as a whole, the Wildcats finished the match hitting .185 while ORU finished hitting .181 percent. The Wildcats earned the majority of their point off of kills, with the 'Cats holding the advantage 63 to 43, all despite ORU holding an 11 to one blocking advantage. The teams were even with 10 digs, and ACU held the advantage in assists with 59 to 40 and with digs, 68 to 56.
Senior Bryley Steinhilber and sophomore Hannah Gonzalez played significant roles in the Wildcats' win. Steinhilber finished with a match-best and season-best 22 kills while hitting .348 percentage. Gonzalez was second in kills for the Wildcats with a career-high 13 kills and a career-best .458 hitting percentage. Friday's performance plus their performance on Thursday against Alabama A&M also earned the two Wildcat Classic All-Tournament Team honors.
"We had some really great performances out of Bryley," Moronu Alstrup said. "She stepped up towards the end of the match despite some struggles at the beginning of the match, but we knew that she would be able to turn it around and she did. Hannah was also just a force to be reckoned with whenever we could get her the ball she did a great job managing it well."
Madeline Guffy led the Wildcat offense efficiently with a season-best 50 assists in the win. Junior Ashli Edmiston also had valuable playing time off the bench for ACU. Coming in starting the third set, Edmiston finished the match with eight kills while hitting .333 from the outside. Sara Carrizales led ACU's backline defense, finishing the night with a season-best 21 digs.
The Wildcats take the momentum of this match into the beginning of Western Athletic Conference play starting Thursday. First, the team heads to St. George, Utah to take on Utah Tech, then head to Cedar City on Saturday to play Southern Utah. The Wildcats will then return to Moody to open October and home play in conference against California Baptist and Seattle U.
"I'm super excited that we can go into conference play feeling confident about the way that we can win and persevere through ups and downs." Moronu Alstrup said. "We're excited for our first conference run next weekend out in Utah and then cannot wait for more Moody magic on October 3 and October 5 when we return home."
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