ST. GEORGE, Utah — ACU saw some struggles in its first match of Western Athletic Conference play, falling to the Utah Tech Trailblazers, 3-0.
The Wildcats were swept in three sets, 13-25, 22-25 and 12-25.
ACU struggled in the first and third sets with their hitting, finishing the first set hitting -.057 and finishing the third set hitting -.167. Meanwhile, the Trailblazers finish the first and last set hitting .321 and .280, respectively.
The second set was where the Wildcats played their best, finishing the middle set hitting .129. Ultimately, Utah Tech finished hitting .242, helping them edge out the Wildcats in the second set.
ACU finished the match with 22 kills with 24 hitting errors, ultimately finishing with a -.022 hitting percentage. Utah Tech completed the match with 36 kills while hitting .279.
The Trailblazers held the advantage in almost every statistical category. ACU only had two aces, both from freshman Delanna Harper, to Utah Tech's seven. The 'Cats had two blocks to UTU's 10 blocks, 22 assists to the Trailblazers' 34 and ACU had 34 digs to Utah Tech's 39 digs.
Sophomore middle blocker Hannah Gonzalez served as a bright spot for ACU with seven kills while hitting .333 percent while also having a block. Sophomore outside Alexis Strong also had three kills with a team-best .375 hitting percentage.
Reigning WAC Setter of the Week Madeline Guffy finished the night with 18 assists and Sara Carrizales led the ACU defense with nine digs.
Up next, ACU hopes to earn its first conference win of the season on Friday at 2 p.m. CT as the team heads to Cedar City, Utah, to take on Southern Utah.
The match on Saturday afternoon will air on ESPN+, but fans can also follow the matchup by following the team on social media on Instagram, X, Facebook and acusports.com.
#Unshakeable #GoWildcats
