ABILENE - Moody Coliseum will be site of a rivalry matchup this weekend as Abilene Christian volleyball (8-12, 2-3) hosts Tarleton State (9-8, 3-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Wildcats will host Greek Day, recognizing the university's fraternities and sororities.
ACU aims to return to .500 in Western Athletic Conference play while picking up its first win over the Texans in Abilene since 2022. The Wildcats trail in the series, 5-2, since both schools reached the Division I ranks. The teams split both of their matchups last season, with the road team winning each contest. ACU is 1-3 versus Tarleton State at Moody Coliseum.
In the Wildcats' 3-1 victory over the Texans on Oct. 10, 2024,
Rachel Koss logged a career-high seven service aces, while
Avery Thaler recorded a career-best 10 kills and five blocks.
Hannah Gonzalez blocked seven attacks in Stephenville, Texas.
The Wildcats are on the heels of a 1-1 week that saw them pull off a reverse sweep versus Southern Utah on Oct. 9 before falling to conference frontrunner Utah Tech, 3-0, on Oct. 11.
Ashli Edmiston led or tied for the team lead in kills in both matches, while
Abby Christian paced ACU in digs versus both opponents.
The Texans are off to a 3-2 start to WAC play under first-year coach Jazmyne Johnson and are coming off a sweep of Southern Utah at Wisdom Gym. Alyssa Dinh is second in the conference in hitting percentage (.342), while Madison Frank ranks fourth (.320). Two Texans each rank in the top 10 for kills, assists, blocks and digs per set.
Tarleton State ranks second in the WAC in hitting percentage (.219) and digs per set (14.17), while ACU is second in kills (12.88), assists (11.76) and aces (1.80) per set. The Wildcats landed in the top 25 in the nation for total kills (966) and total aces (135) at 20th.
Aubrey Beaver and Gonzalez remain the motors behind ACU's offense, each ranking in the WAC's top 10 for kills and points per set. Beaver is in seventh for aces per set (0.33) as well, while Gonzalez is eighth in hitting percentage (.265).
In conference play, Edmiston is second in the WAC with 3.39 kills per set and ninth with a .277 hitting percentage. Her 3.79 points per set are fourth-most.
Brennan Ramirez is tied for sixth with 0.37 aces per set and ranks fourth with 3.32 digs per set.
