Box Score CEDAR CITY, Utah - Abilene Christian volleyball earned its first-ever win within the state of Utah as it took down Southern Utah, 3-1, at the America First Event Center on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats snapped a three-match losing skid as head coach
Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup picked up her 30th win at the helm of the program.
Looking ahead, ACU takes a detour from Western Athletic Conference play to visit North Texas at the UNT Volleyball Center in Denton, Texas at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
ACU tallied 52 kills to Southern Utah's 50 with a .239 hitting percentage. It recorded 13 blocks, its second-highest total of the season. Seven of the Wildcats' blocks were solo, tying for the third-most in a match in the program's Division I record book.
Hannah Gonzalez, ranked second in the Wildcats' Division I era with 49 solo blocks, notched a career-best three solo blocks to go with two block assists. It's tied for the fourth-most solo blocks in a match in ACU's DI history and matches
Avery Thaler's output from the team's match at Utah Tech on Thursday.
Courtney Church collected a career-high 12 kills to pace the ACU offensive attack, while
Annaleise Sevier added 11 kills at a .348 clip. Gonzalez and
Hadlee Welch registered eight kills apiece, with Welch swinging at a .333 mark and adding a pair of solo blocks of her own.
Thaler led the Wildcats with six blocks, two of which were solo, to go with five kills. She has seven solo blocks in her last three matches. Thaler paced ACU in blocks for the third time in the last four matches and for the fifth time in conference play.
Both teams remained even in the early going of the first set before the Thunderbirds took a 15-12 lead at the midway point on their home floor. Southern Utah answered a 3-0 ACU run with one of its own to go ahead 18-15. The Wildcats built momentum to reach set point at 24-22, but the Thunderbirds responded to knot the score at 24.
ACU followed with a kill by Thaler, and a Southern Utah attack error sealed a 26-24 win for the Wildcats. Church and
Ashli Edmiston combined for seven kills, while Welch blocked a pair of shots on her own.
The Thunderbirds took an early lead in the second set and held on the rest of the way, leading by as much as six points at 17-11. The Wildcats cut into the deficit with a 6-3 run to get within 21-18. Southern Utah closed the period on a 4-2 run to even the match with a 25-20 victory.
Church, Sevier and Gonzalez tallied three kills apiece in the set.
The Thunderbirds carried their momentum into the third set with six consecutive points, but ACU mounted a 10-3 rally to grab a 12-9 advantage. After Southern Utah tied the set at 14, the Wildcats used a 7-1 run to take a commanding 21-15 edge. The rally featured three straight kills by Church and a block and kill from Gonzalez.
ACU ended the set on a 4-0 run thanks to a pair of kills by Sevier as Thaler teamed up with Sevier and Beaver for a couple of blocks. Sevier and Church totaled seven kills as Gonzalez had two solo blocks and a block assist. Thaler had a hand in three blocks.
The Thunderbirds engineered another hot start to the fourth set, taking a 9-5 lead and holding off a Wildcat rally to lead 13-9. Southern Utah turned its momentum into a 19-15 advantage before ACU found its footing. The Wildcats engineered a 5-0 rally to take a 21-20 edge, but the Thunderbirds answered right back with a 4-2 streak to force set point at 24-23.
ACU responded, picking up four of the final five points to clinch the match with a 27-25 win. Welch stepped up in the final set with four kills, while Gonzalez and Thaler logged two blocks each.
